


Trying Chocolate

by Malignent



Category: RWBY
Genre: Awkward Romance, Drama, F/F, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-09-05 18:25:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16816027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malignent/pseuds/Malignent
Summary: Coco had never expected someone as fearful and anxious as Velvet to hop into the dating scene, and would never have considered herself to be Velvet's type. But after a strenuous confession, Coco's more than willing to make this the best first relationship her teammate could possibly have! If only Velvet wasn't making that so difficult to pull off.





	1. A Crippling Confession

Coco Adel was considered by most to be an icon of confidence and glamour. Coming from a family entrenched deep in a Clothing Conglomerate and with a signature smirk to match, she spent the majority of her life perfecting the art of being an eye-catching Alpha of social circles. So when she eventually went to Beacon Academy to follow the path of protecting the masses as a Huntress, she was surprised to find herself on a team of what had to be the most socially awkward people on Remnant.

With a partner who could only display quiet cynicism, a monk who had absolutely no idea how to pick up on social cues at all, and a Faunus who seemed like the physical embodiment of Anxiety, Coco had to struggle through the first year of being Team Leader. It was a long grueling process of knocking some camaraderie into Fox, teaching Yatsuhashi all about the wonders of casual conversation, and getting Velvet to actually talk to them, but it paid off. Even if they were still iffy here and there, Team CVFY was now regarded highly by most of their peers and professors. But there were sacrifices along the way. Namely, Coco wasn't able to take advantage of the growing fanbase she'd acquired amongst the student body like she had in her previous schools. Usually she'd be able to at least bask in the limelight her efforts provided, but her free time had mostly been limited to ironing out the kinks in her team.

Which is why Coco was pleasantly surprised by the mysterious note she'd found at her desk in Port's class. Now she was no stranger to love letters, in fact she had honestly been expecting more considering the size her fan club had gotten to, but she had been out of the game for a good chunk of time. At the very least, she could see if she still had it. And so the fashionista waited at the designated spot on the roof of one of the student dorms in the middle of the night. She had to give it to the mysterious suitor, they definitely knew how to pick a location for romantic confessions. The position of the broken moon was just asking for a potential couple to make out under it.

A door behind her opened, but Coco wasn't one to break suspense like this. She had the upper hand here, any sane boy would instantly salivate at the way she was framed by the moon. She casually folded her arms, leaning to the side just enough to subtly strike a pose. Man, if Velvet were here she'd probably go crazy at a chance to get a shot like this. But Coco couldn't get distracted, lover boy hadn't commented yet and she would be damned if she let his inexperience turn this romantic scene awkward.

"Okay," she sighed before placing a hand on her hip and turning around "let's get-"

It was Velvet.

Coco dropped the pose immediately before rubbing at the back of her head "Oh Vel! Sorry, I was kinda expecting someone else."

The Faunus girl just stared at her, slowly patting her fingertips together several times.

"Were you itchy or something?"

Suddenly Velvet's rabbit ears stood tall at the unforeseen question, she gave a nervous look down before trying to lock eyes with her Leader "W-what?"

"I was just thinking about how you would love to get a picture of this!" Coco nodded towards the moon before once again striking a pose "I mean, its just asking for it, right?"

Velvet gave a little high pitched noise as she watched before quickly nodding.

"And isn't that a saying?" Coco once more dropped the pose before approaching her teammate "Where you get itchy if someone else is thinking about you?"

"I think..." Velvet paused uncomfortably for a moment "it's supposed to be sneezing."

"No kidding?" Coco said before coming to a stop before her and giving her teammate a casual nudge "So how's your day been? Some guy invited me up here and is taking forever to show, so I'm actually glad you're here to-"

Velvet produced another odd high-pitched noise at that, her eyes repeatedly trying and failing to make contact with Coco's "...M-Me..."

Coco tilted her head in confusion "What?"

"I-it...I... It was m-me." Velvet finally managed to force out through a growing wave of nervous stuttering.

Coco was about to ask for more elaboration when it suddenly hit her, and soon she felt herself quite literally bursting at the seams with an unshakable feeling of pride. She asked someone out... Velvet Scarlatina had actually progressed to a point where she could actually seek out a romantic relationship with someone else. This was a moment that Coco was convinced she'd never live long enough to see, a moment spoken of in hushed whispers by those entrenched deeply in occult lore. Coco had to steady her stance, as the unbridled pride threatened to sweep her off her feet and carry her off into the night.

When fixing up her team, Velvet had proven the most difficult from the start. Fox's pessimism could be broken through with enough confidence, and Yatsu was always willing to expand his knowledge, but from the first time Velvet shied away from even talking to her, Coco knew she would be a challenge. And she was, the Faunus had a very specific fear of interacting with others, one so crippling that it took all of Coco's skill to work around. Like a covert agent, she'd crept through the maze that was Velvet's anxiety until she was finally able to instill a sense of trust. It was quite possibly one of Coco's proudest accomplishments... until now.

She had no idea that she'd helped Velvet get this far, had no idea this was even possible to reach in one generation. But here they were, with the once timid Rabbit-Faunus surpassing her own limits by asking out-

And then the other realization caught up with her, and Coco's pride was suppressed instantly by confusion. She had almost been ready to raise a triumphant fist in the sky at this accomplishment, but now merely looked down to focus on her teammate as she continued struggling to speak.

"J-just, I wanted... Uhm... you p-possibly..." Velvet continued trying to form coherent sentences as her face rapidly started turning pink with embarrassment, and the sudden full attention of Coco was clearly not helping. Coco alleviated this by glancing down a bit, instead focusing her attention on the way Velvet was shifting nervously from one foot to the other. This only helped things slightly, as the Faunus immediately became more self-conscious of her own movements, but Coco was far too busy trying to figure out how this happened to notice.

"M-maybe some- Uh- sometime... you... hold up."

Because it boggled her, of all the people Velvet had to confess to, it had to be her? Coco had seen the books Velvet was into, knew that she was extremely into the concept of true love with all kinds of destiny and fate stuff. And Coco was more than aware enough to admit that she was definitely not the Love at First sight type. She knew how to sell romance through appearance, had that done it? In fact, she never even thought that Velvet would be into chicks. Then again, it had taken forever to get the Faunus to interact with anyone without fear, so maybe Coco just never had the chance to take note of any preference.

"Ever since... I mean... you've been with me for... Sorry I-"

That being said, how was she supposed to respond to this? She'd gone out plenty of times with plenty of guys but never a girl. She could realize that Vel was adorable, but she couldn't see her with the upmost affection now present in the Faunus's eyes. How long had she been feeling like this, anyway?

"We could... maybe... with the t-two of us..."

But in truth, Coco knew she wouldn't be able to turn down this confession no matter what. After all the work she'd done to get Velvet to this point, turning her down now could lead to a regression of the worst kinds. Coco was far more of a learn to love 'em over time kinda gal, and that could easily apply here too. She just needed to give it a try, ease the Faunus girl into the dating scene. Yeah, the least she could do was help Velvet on this new journey she's trying to embark on.

Slowly Coco could feel her enthusiasm growing, she was ready to be the best first love she could be. Steeling herself, Coco looked back up with a smile, ready to help make this the smoothest confession she could. Only for that confidence to be tested immediately when she realized Velvet was having far more trouble than anticipated. Velvet's attempt at a confession had devolved into incoherent ramblings, and the Faunus was getting increasingly more horrified as her words failed her. Her nervous footwork had advanced to full-body trembling, and her entire face looked nearly red, and that expression...

Coco could feel an eye twitch once her gaze focused on the expression of definitive effort Velvet was sporting as she tried to force out her confession. Coco had to stop herself before a giggle could escape, laughing in the midst of a confession would hurt anyone, doing it with Velvet was on another level entirely. But... that face...

She needed to end this quickly, but how?

Should she offer a supportive hand? Velvet was never one for physical contact. Should she take the initiative and ask her out first? Plausible, but if Velvet truly was trying to go the true romantic route wouldn't it feel kind of defeating if she didn't manage to complete her own confession? Maybe she could-

Coco was once more interrupted when Velvet collapsed against her. Fearing the Faunus might've overexerted herself, Coco immediately took hold of her shoulders. They didn't have to do this now, the message had gotten across. Velvet had strained herself to the point of exhaustion before whilst coming out of her shell, no confession could be worth risking that.

"I-I...I-!" Velvet continued struggling to complete her sentence "I-I-!"

Coco once more had to bite her tongue to keep from reacting to that damned face. It was just too much.

"Vel" Coco said whilst tightening her grip on the Faunus for emphasis, finally halting Velvet's ramblings as she looked up at the Fashionista with a sudden look of terror.

Coco sported what she hoped was the warmest smile she could "I'd love to go out sometime, you and me."

Praying that that was enough, she gave Velvet a pat on the arm before stumbling as the Faunus' full weight fell against her. Unprepared, Coco had to take several steps back in order to keep from collapsing. She had to wrap her arms entirely around Velvet to keep from dropping her, and released a breath once she was sure they were stable.

Looking down, she shifted Velvet a bit "Vel! You okay?" she asked before finding the immense smile plastered on the unconscious Faunus' face. Yep...she overdid it.

The Fashionista sighed before standing tall and readjusting the girl in her arms, catching sight of the goofy smile stretched across her face once again.

Coco released a faint chuckle.


	2. Horrifying Handlings

She'd done it... it hadn't gone exactly as planned but Velvet had done the impossible. She'd managed to get Coco to agree to go out with her.

Ever since the photographer met her, Velvet knew immediately that Coco was blatantly everything she wasn't. Fashionable, immensely confident, and held the adoration of almost everyone who turned her way. While mostly people scared Velvet because of just how potentially cruel they could be, Coco was a constant reminder of all the the bunny-girl's downsides. Just being near her reminded Velvet about all the things she knew was wrong with her, her fears and hesitations. She did her best to interact with her Team Leader for as little time as possible specifically because of this, but Coco had surprised her.

The Fashionista didn't just seem willing to interact with her, she seemed downright determined to. Velvet had been convinced she was being set up, that Coco was trying to lower her defenses just to hit her with the right-hook of reality. What other reason would such a popular icon have for wasting time on someone like her? But it never came, and soon Velvet began looking forward to whenever Coco tried dragging her out to some clothing shop or new eatery. It wasn't because she'd gotten used to the places themselves, but because she couldn't help but enjoy whenever Coco wanted to hang out.

Because really, when else would she get to enjoy having someone as renown as Coco give her the time of day?

But as time went on, Velvet began craving these interactions for another reason. She could remember exactly when it started too, knew everything from the time to the place. She'd been trying out the latest model of her Camera, Coco was always willing to help her improve it whenever she wanted to. Right after they'd finished, Velvet had started immediately looking for whatever she could capture in her lens. And it just so happened that Coco had made for the nearest water fountain. It was the fountain, the damned fountain had been the start of all of this.

For whatever reason its nozzle just happened to be loose enough to spray Coco right in the face. Velvet had been planning to have a drink afterwards, and would've been mortified if it had been her who'd gotten blasted instead of Coco. But the Fashionista took it in stride, pulling away and not even hesitating before pulling off her beret and glasses. Coco wasn't one to let little things like that get to her, and could coolly react to almost anything. So maybe Velvet should've expected her to immediately dab at her face with the beret, should've expected the fingers in her hair or the confident smirk showing through even then.

Coco always had an extremely photogenic air about her, as if she could pose for a magazine cover no matter which scenario she was in. Velvet had become fully aware of that by then. But seeing her casually wipe away water with such glamour urged the Faunus to raise the camera. At that point she'd taken plenty of photos of all of her teammates, and Coco was more than willing to indulge her. So when the Fashionista had glanced over and noticed Velvet lining up a shot, the Faunus probably should've expected her to smile.

What she hadn't expected was for Coco to wink.

And it was that subtle movement that doomed Velvet. For the rest of her time at Beacon she became far more aware of whenever Coco was physically close, more aware of when they were alone together, and more aware of a subtext she hadn't noticed before. Velvet had always known that Coco was probably one of the best looking girls at Beacon, but that knowledge used to remind her of her own less that admirable features. But now, after the fountain and that wink, focusing on her Leader's appearance just made Velvet feel warm.

And it was all because of that wink. Velvet knew Coco had only been winking for the camera and not her specifically, but as she replayed the moment over and over in her head she realized that she wanted it to be for her. But that wasn't how reality worked. This wasn't one of her stories where a confident, popular person swept some nervous social outcast off their feet into a whirlwind of romance. So why couldn't she stop herself from wanting that very thing?

Velvet had tried just waiting the feelings out, letting them dissipate over time. But time only provided her with more opportunities to pine for the Fashionista. She'd tried convincing herself Coco would never go for it because she was a girl. After all, Coco was never ashamed to talk about all the previous guys she'd gone out with. But then she'd draw attention to the girls that Coco had in her fanclub, or more specifically the ones that were far more open with just how far their admiration went. She seemed so accepting, so unshaken by the idea, that Velvet couldn't help but imagine how things would go if she had a shred of their confidence.

It all culminated in a dream where everything went her way and she and Coco rode off into the sunset in wedding attire with trumpets and fireworks and everything. Where most would find comfort in such a pleasant dream, Velvet had been horrified to her core. The dream was too good, so good that she knew that she'd end up getting swallowed by it if she didn't reestablish her link to reality. And the one surefire way that she knew to end this cycle of hope and fear would be to just follow through and get rejected.

And yet, Coco had accepted.

Despite her royally screwing up her confession due to a sudden failure of all oral functions, Coco had still retained her cool demeanor and accepted even though the Faunus couldn't even finish. It had been too much, and Velvet was ashamed to admit that she'd blacked out immediately. When she'd woken up the next day, she'd been convinced that it had been another overly optimistic dream. But no, Coco was quick to pitch ideas of where they'd go on their d-

"A date?" Fox had asked over breakfast whilst looking up at them from across the table "You're serious?"

"Yeah," Coco snickered as she nudged the trembling Faunus sitting beside her "don't know if we're seeing a movie or grabbing somethin' to eat yet. But we'll probably have something by tomorrow, right Vel?"

Flinching once she realized it was her turn to speak, Velvet locked her eyes to the tray before her whilst stuttering out a "Y-Yeah."

"God, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd actually manage to go through with it." Fox shook his head in disbelief, causing the Faunus to look up in surprise "I mean, Yats told me that it would resolve itself over time but I'd almost lost hope."

Velvet's trembling intensified, the rest of their team knew? Coco's reaction yesterday had proven that she didn't suspect a thing, but Velvet had been so sure that the guys didn't either. Had she been so focused on making sure that Coco never found out that she never considered anyone else around them? Velvet gave several nervous glances to the surrounding lunchroom, had anyone else picked up on it without her knowledge? Her gaze lingered on a very specific table of boys, where her old Bully seemed busy yelling at two of his teammates for some reason.

Velvet knew that nowadays her team would never let Cardin or his friends get away with what they did earlier in the year, but that didn't stop Velvet from visualizing the terrors they could've committed if they found out about her less than innocent thoughts about-

A side hug from Coco was enough to fry that train of thought in its tracks.

"You underestimate my girl, Fox." Coco pointed out whilst giving the frozen faunus a shake "You should've seen her up there!"

"I'll take your word for it, no need for details." the pale-eyed boy raised a hand for emphasis.

Coco rolled her eyes behind her glass before glancing to their resident giant "You sure you don't want anything else, big guy?"

Beside Fox, Yatsuhashi had stayed silent with his hands folded together the entire time. The only thing on the tray in front of him was a single apple. After several seconds, he looked to his Team Leader before giving a small nod "At this time, I do not feel the need for sustenance."

"Hey," the Fashionista lowered her glasses and gave him a stern look "remember what we talked about?"

Yatsuhashi stayed silent for another moment before reiterating "I'm not hungry."

"There we go, big guy!" Coco cooed as she raised her glasses again.

As the conversation shifted to the large student's disproportionate eating habits, Velvet was able to recover. Coco had hugged her plenty of times before, but it just felt different now that they were... dating. Because that's what they were! They were two people who were going on a date soon. And when people date things that were once casual contact now had a more intimate feel, right? That little hug that Coco didn't seem to notice much if at all had nearly thrown Velvet for a loop, and already she felt herself missing the contact. Maybe she could scoot over and subtly lean against the Fashionista, but wouldn't that be too forward?

Coco gestured with both her hands to indicate Yatsuhashi's massive frame, and it was then Velvet noticed that only one of her hands was being used to eat. A single fork seemed more than enough to consume the plate of eggs and hash-browns before her, leaving the other hand unoccupied at the side of the tray.

Velvet's thoughts were quick to betray her.

Could she really go for it? They'd literally not even been dating for a day, but wasn't holding hands expected at that point? Velvet swallowed nervously as her gaze locked onto that taunting hand, lying there and turning her thoughts into a tangled mess. Would it seem like she was stepping too far? Coco didn't seem like the type to care, but a small part of Velvet's mind reminded her that she was not in control of this relationship. There was a lot of dark, illegal stuff she would do to keep Coco from realizing how much better she could do. There would never be another chance for Velvet to have someone like her, and that meant there was no margin for error.

That thought merely made her panic more, as she had only barely made it through the confession. None of the girls in her books had ever suffered from such indecisiveness, all they had to worry about was realizing that taking off the glasses made them instantly beautiful. Alas, Velvet's perfect vision meant she had no glasses to remove. Therefore, she had to rely on her personality to keep Coco interested, but what kind of person could deal with someone who locks up mid-confession?! Coco did, she seemed to cut through Velvet's anxiety like butter. But she shouldn't have had to!

Velvet shook her head and willed herself to focus on the topic at hand, which just so happened to be that hand. She ran through every possible outcome in her head, the most likely one being Coco shrugging and accepting with little fanfare. Velvet knew in her heart and soul that that was the most likely outcome, but once more the thought of the Fashionista raising a concerned eyebrow at her reared its ugly head. Or worst, what if she wordlessly pulled her hand away out of fear?

Was this how demolitions experts felt whenever they were defusing a bomb? When every small misstep was the difference between life and death?

"Yo Velvet, you even start eating?"

Fox's voice might as well have fallen on deaf ears, because Velvet was already lost in the endless equation that was hand holding. The napkins that were supposed to be for cleaning up after eating were instead used to pat away the beads of sweat now forming on the bunny girl's face as she tried to calm her breathing. Yet despite all her forethought and planning the hand remained there, begging her to risk it all for a single moment of indulgence.

But then it moved, and the Faunus' entire body locked up as she realized her entire team was staring at her. The hand moved closer, fingers drawing near as Velvet felt the fear of god being hammered into her very existence. She'd taken too long, Coco had noticed her awkwardly staring at her hand and was now about to seek retribution. Velvet hadn't even lasted until the actual first date, and would now have to live with that knowledge for the rest of her-

Fingers clasped around her's with a comforting squeeze as Coco looked her over with a raised eyebrow, "You okay, Vel?"

There was no answer, as the feeling of their hands intertwined struck something deep within Velvet, causing her breathing to cease as her eyes widened far beyond what they should've been capable of.

She seemed stuck like that for several seconds, long enough for Coco to try again "Want me to get you some water or-"

And then Velvet released a loud sigh of pure bliss as her expression melted into a carefree, happy smile. Coco refrained from asking another question and merely waved her free hand in front of the Faunus several times. Velvet barely reacted, only giving subtle little giggles while her eyes glazed over and her smile widened as she tightened her grip on Coco's hand.

Coco raised an eyebrow, but ultimately just shrugged before rubbing her thumb on the back of Velvet's hand. The Fashionista picked up her fork once more and mixed more of her eggs and hash browns together before turning back to Fox.

"So like I was saying," she said before nodding to their largest teammate "I know he's a monk and all but that doesn't change how food works."


	3. Ruinous Rubbings

Coco managed to make it through the rest of the day without incident. After Velvet refrained from imploding during breakfast, Coco had been keeping a closer eye on her throughout the day. Yes, Velvet was having more awkward moments today than usual. Luckily, Coco started noticing the trend before it became a problem. Most of it was just Vel adjusting to the idea of them actually being an item.

Coco had dropped a pen near Velvet's feet in Port's class, and the Faunus had trembled the entire time whilst retrieving it for her. Now obviously, they'd both reclaimed dropped writing utensils for each other multiple times, but it seemed Velvet had reset on the nervous factor now that they were dating. It had been the same deal with several other scenarios. Exchanging notes had left her blushing up a storm, she seemed to hold back on answering questions just to give Coco the chance to, but the worst had been Weapon Maintenance.

When students were allowed to use Beacon's Workshop to check and improve their weapons, Coco and Velvet had come to an understanding. Whereas Velvet would occasionally worm out of their little outings out of fear, she always had time for the workshop. They'd look over each other's weapons, critique design flaws and work together to improve each other's works. Originally it had just been one of Coco's attempts to bond more, until she'd found that the Faunus was just a bit more talkative when discussing her weapon. Soon weapon maintenance was one of the cornerstone's of their friendship, as the two began to spend countless hours together working on each other's weapons.

In fact, it was the sole reason Coco had been able to help Velvet so much with her weapon. Back when they were first starting out at Beacon, Velvet's weapon had been a rather simple staff. Coco hadn't found much issue with this until she'd managed to figure out her teammate's semblance, and immediately thought of a way to give Velvet the pizzazz she'd been lacking. By combining a hobby with lethal practicality, the two had developed a far more fitting armament for the Rabbit-Girl's arsenal.

Yes, Coco could reminisce for hours about the times they'd spent tinkering away over this or that in the workshop. But when they sat down and placed their weapons on the table before them, Coco began noticing something new about their routine.

"So how are we gonna be making her purr today?" Coco cooed whilst giving the immense gun some appreciative petting.

She waited for a solid sixteen seconds whilst petting her gun before determining that Velvet wasn't going to answer. Glancing over, the Fashionista saw that her teammate was staring at her hand with a bit of a stunned look on her face. Gripping her camera tightly, Velvet's eyes locked to her hand as she took a breath, but still said nothing.

"Vel?" Coco asked after another few seconds

As if snapped from a dream, Velvet glanced to Coco before blushing and turning her attention back to her own weapon "Oh, um... I mean, I think its...fine?"

Coco narrowed her eyes immediately. Usually how this would go was that she'd ask Vel for comments on her weapon, and after receiving some very helpful feedback she'd do the same for her. It was sort of like a starting ritual so they could help each other, and no matter what they would always have something to say. Coco had supposed this was because Velvet had picked up on a number of details about weapons maintenance while the two were making her camera.

And the suspicious look on Velvet's face as she idly fiddled with her camera proved to Coco that there was definitely something she wanted to say. But she wasn't, and Coco could only think of one significant change that could've led to this. At first she reprimanded herself, why would hooking up lead to Velvet being less honest about how to improve her weapon? But as she thought about it, the Fashionista realized that it was truly a Velvet thing to do to try and spare her feelings by not pointing out the flaws of her particularly delicious dealer of death.

"Maybe we could work on s-speeding up my...?" Velvet gave her camera a little shake for emphasis, and despite the smirk Coco flashed as she waved her over, the Fashionista felt...odd.

It had been an obvious point for them to improve upon, the amount of time it takes for Velvet's Camera to project weapons and such. They'd been working on both that and the range of its mimicry since Coco had initially come up with it. But they'd never spent an entire workshop session on only one weapon. It had been something of a silent agreement that every weapon deserved some attention. Whilst working on the Camera's technical bits, Coco would occasionally glance at her minigun.

Even from here she could definitely see some things she could change or touch up on, things that Velvet definitely would've pointed out on any other day. Maybe they fix up the firing rate so there isn't as much recoil when using it, or find a way to more easily distribute its weight so she could swing it faster when in its compact form. Velvet had become accustomed to pointing stuff like that out, but alas... it seemed to no longer be the case.

A bout of arguing nearby brought her attention to two boys several tables away from them who were loudly arguing over the specifics of their weapons.

"Just admit it, dude," Russel shook his head "the halberd sucks."

"I-it doesn't!" Sky defended whilst examining the detached head of his weapon through a glass "You just don't realize the many uses a true mid-range weapon has!"

"Look, my blades are more than suitable for any scenario I could find myself in." Russel smirked as he tossed one of his daggers in the air and caught it before gesturing to the Halberd's head "Meanwhile, you can barely attack because you keep struggling to balance the thing. I don't know if Cardin's lost so much faith in you that he doesn't think it'll help or not, but find a damned counterweight already!"

"Oh well excuse me," the other boy rolled his eyes before setting down the head of his weapon "I'm sorry I can't rely on my semblance to get me out of a jam. Perhaps if you'd put several notches in those things you could focus more on defense instead of wasting aura on evasion!"

Coco could feel her teeth grinding at the exchange. The mere idea that some of Cardin's lackeys could be more honest with each other's downfalls in weapon design than Velvet and her... it was not a good feeling.

Yet the moment she turned back to Velvet, she felt herself smiling automatically whilst pointing out where the Faunus should focus her attention next. It was somewhat harrowing not bringing up the sudden change in dynamic, but she knew Velvet enough to know that if she just outright said it the rabbit-haired girl would panic. She had to slip it in during another conversation, maybe bring it up on the way back from their date if everything else goes well.

And that was another thing.

Later, after moving to the training room so Velvet could test out the modifications they'd done to her weapon, Coco found herself wondering what exactly they could do. Standing on the sidelines while Velvet tore into a gang of training dummies, Coco did her best to narrow down the list. Luckily, Velvet's anxiety never seemed to extend towards robots and Grimm, making her exceptionally adept at fighting her way through monsters and the unfortunate droids employed by Beacon's Training services.

That had been one of the reasons Coco had initially had trouble approaching her. Velvet and Yatsuhashi had been the first of their team to make it out of the forest on orientation day, so Coco had assumed she and the Giant were a pair of like-minded silent bad asses who didn't have time for others. She could chuckle about it now, the idea of Velvet being a stoic and brutal badass who only cared about fighting. But looking at her while she fought, Coco could understand why her younger seld had gotten the idea. Suddenly the quiet one was hopping all over whilst swapping between her teammates weapons and tearing metal apart without issue.

And yet even as she watched this display of combat mastery, Coco knew the second she interrupted her Velvet would be right back to panicking. Which made deciding on where to take her for an outing troublesome. She knew that very public places were out of the question, but how far did that extend? Would Velvet be fine with dinner? A restaurant held certain expectations, yet a more casual place didn't seem like Vel's brand of romance. And the whole point of this was to ease Vel into dating, so maybe something smaller.

Would one of those romantic walks under moonlight be enough? Certainly seemed like something Velvet would do, but Coco had to admit it wasn't exactly her area of expertise. When Coco dated guys before, it was all about hanging out and having fun. Going to parties, chilling with a meal, linking arms at skating rings and stuff. She never really got into the kinda things Velvet apparently had. She'd never gone on long emotional walks on a river bank whilst staring deep into someone's eyes and having hour-long mental conversations.

As much as she didn't want to worry her, Coco concluded that she'd definitely need Velvet's input if she didn't want the first date to sour.

So when Velvet finished tearing through the third batch of training bots, Coco called out "Looks good Vel, but its getting kinda late ain't it?"

And just as expected, the Velvet almost seemed to go through a high speed transformation almost immediately from intensely-focused brawler to petrified school girl within the range of three seconds "Oh, sorry... I d-didn't mean to take so long."

Honestly, Coco hadn't either. Velvet could get extremely focused during battle, so much so that she sort of depended on others to take her mind from the fight. Coco had been so busy mulling over their date, she'd almost let her go for too long.

So when her teammate approached, Coco gave her a reassuring pat on the head, causing her to squeak as the Fashionista smirked "Don't sweat it, Vel, it was a damn good performance."

Honestly it shouldn't take three groups of robots for them to note down the differences, despite their fine tuning the weapon was identical in function, just tiny improvements of timing.

Which meant it didn't take long for them to talk it over on their way back to their Team's room, giving Coco just the point she needed to mention, "So where you thinking about heading for our date?"

Once again, Velvet seemed to snap out of a daydream "W-what?"

"Just thinking you and I should figure out where we're heading," Coco pointed out while glancing towards the Faunus "Don't really think my hangouts are your kind of place, so we should-"

"W-Why wouldn't they be?"

Coco blinked, taking a second to lower her glasses a bit before continuing "Well, its just that when we aren't hanging out I enjoy a good club scene, or casual party or something like that while you..."

"But you l-like those places!" Velvet pointed out before quickly turning her gaze ahead with an embarrassed mumble "And I asked you out, s-so I should take you to places that you like."

Oh Vel.

Coco had to admire Velvet's willingness to leap into the spotlight for her sake, but had to shake her head at the idea "Then why not take me somewhere relaxing? Someplace like Malts'-"

"What?"

"I'm just saying, looks pretty swell if I picture it in my head." Coco wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gestured grandly "You and me sitting down with a nice pastry or two, maybe sharing a sundae?"

Coco could feel Velvet's face warming up at the idea, but the she shook her head and looked away "I-it has to be somewhere special... to us."

Now that would be tricky. Coco loved Velvet's company and was more than willing to explore romantic ventures with her, but she wasn't too sentimental when it came to locations. Coco knew that plenty of couples had special spots that they could remember, and it definitely seemed to line up with Velvet's interests, but she had to think hard about special places they might have.

She thought like that all the way back to the room, and even entered with a hard look of concentration that dispersed as she sighed and resigned to check out some places in the morning. She glanced over to find Yatsuhashi in his usual spot, meditating right next to a desk. At one point she'd been more curious as to how he could sleep like that, but it had faded under how impressive she found it to be. Honestly, she was a wreck without proper sleep, and doing anything other than lying in the soft embrace of a bed was near sacrilegious. Then there was Fox's bed... empty, as usual. He'd show up when he felt like it. Coco had once assumed that Fox's many agitations stemmed from his terrible sleep schedule, but even when he was well-rested he seemed ready and rearing to be annoyed by something.

Coco looked back just as Velvet closed the door to the room. Honestly, she was probably the only other teammate who had a somewhat regular sleep schedule... well, when she wasn't stuck in a rather engaging story. Velvet looked over to Coco before rubbing at her shoulder where the Fashionista had held her before.

Really? Was she going to have to start over on physical contact too?

Coco shook her head before pulling off her beret and glasses, that was something she could also deal with in the morning. She got into some rather form fitting sleepwear that had the added bonus of being not only comfy but also looking fabulous on her, and after some teeth brushing and other preparations she was more than ready to enjoy a much needed rest.

"All yours, hon." she called to Velvet before slipping into her bed and getting comfortable.

Except, several minutes later Coco could feel a presence looming over her. Given how the rest of the day had gone, she waited another minute before sighing and leaning up, "What is it Vel?"

Velvet didn't seemed shocked that her teammate wasn't asleep, in fact she looked downright ashamed whilst rubbing her arm.

Coco frowned, was this still about the side-hug in the hall?

"I..." Velvet caught herself for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a breath, finally she lowered her head "I'd like it if you... if you'd r-rub them."

Coco had to catch herself before she could blurt out the first thing that came to mind, and she suddenly became very aware that they were not alone, "Excuse me?"

"I mean... if you want." Velvet continued as she lowered her head some more

"You mean your ears?"

The Faunus gave a little nod at that, and Coco internally gave a sigh of relief. She knew that Velvet would never just randomly proposition her for some kinda nighttime tussle, so maybe she'd just read the room wrong. But an ear rubbing? That had come out of nowhere.

"Geez, Vel. Almost got me a bit worried there, no big deal." Coco shrugged before shifting until she was sitting in her bed and gesturing her teammate over "Honestly, its better to just-...Wait, how long were you trying to ask me for that?"

Because as she thought over the day, things started popping out at her.

"I mean, usually..." Velvet mumbled "When people want t-to show that they trust each...each other. T-They do things, right?"

Coco leaned back a bit as Velvet once more offered her rabbit ears to her.

Was this a faunus thing? Coco thought back to her other Faunus friends and couldn't really see them offering up their animal parts for feeling to show trust. She'd even tried looking up customs back when she was trying to befriend Velvet so she wouldn't accidentally screw things up. So this had to be from one of Velvet's romance novels. Yeah, she could totally see this as being some kind of romantically symbolic thing authors would put in for more emotional depth. She couldn't really see it as anything else, but if Velvet really wanted to show trust...

Coco reached for those furry protrusions and gave them a rub, but had not been prepared for the sudden sigh that Velvet released in response. Coco waited several seconds before trying again, only to receive similar results. She continued rubbing the appendages, though feeling much more awkward as she did so. Velvet closed her eyes and kept making pleased little sounds as Coco continued, giving small whines of disapproval whenever she slowed down or tried releasing them. Coco couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable as she continued rubbing, and not to mention the dopey smile Velvet now sported was once more challenging the Fashionista to not giggle at it. Then again, with Vel in this state she wasn't even sure if she'd notice the laughing.

Seriously, was this a thing that she just hadn't learned about? Because the longer she spent rubbing those ears the more she felt as if she was somehow being taken advantage of, but whenever she tried stopping those heartbreaking whines would just force her into action once more. But Velvet wouldn't do that, right? Maybe the rubs just felt so good that she was forgetting how this would look if Yatsuhashi noticed?

Coco glanced over to him, but their resident giant was still frozen in his meditative state. That left Fox as the Wild Card, as he could show back up at any moment. Coco knew for a fact her partner wouldn't let her off the hook if he walked in and saw a scene like this. And that was a conversation she didn't know if she was ready to have.

She needed this to end, needed to notify Velvet that this thing had already gone on long enough. So she figured maybe she needed to subtly indicate that she wanted to go to bed. Coco shifted backwards, hoping that her teammate would get the-

Velvet followed.

Coco blinked, then tried moving back some more.

Velvet followed.

Oh yeah, she'd lost her. Coco knew for a fact that Velvet would leap back in fright if she realized what was happening, but instead she merely chased after Coco's hands right onto her sheets. By the time Coco had realized she'd made the situation far worst than it had any right to be, her back pressed against the headboard and Velvet's ears were still very much subject to her rubs, only now the rest of her had crawled onto the bed in order to keep them there.

Yep, kinda forced her hand at this point.

Coco knew how this would look if anybody else noticed, because even she realized that this was the compromising position to end all compromising position. Even though she still had to hold back giggles at just how ridiculous Velvet's request had turned out, she was more than aware of the fact that she'd quite literally lured her Faunus teammate into her bed by the ears. God... her fans would go into a frenzy over something like this, and there was still the issue of Fox. Coco knew her partner well enough to know that something like this was ammunition he must _not_ have at his disposal.

And so, after steeling herself, Coco finally pulled her hands away quickly. She placed them behind her back to keep from reacting to those sad little whines Velvet began giving. Truly heart-breaking, Coco felt as if she'd somehow kicked a dozen orphan puppies just from how much raw guilt those sounds managed to force into her.

Velvet seemed to realize the whines weren't having an effect and finally opened her eyes to look up at Coco. She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to realize that she wasn't standing next to Coco's bed anymore... and Coco wasn't exactly sitting on the side of her bed anymore. In fact, Coco could actually see the subtle shifts in Velvet's expression as the Faunus girl realized exactly what type of position they were in.

And Coco once more had to fight herself.

Because dear lord, the sudden expression of realization on Velvet's face was just begging for any type of comment. Coco could feel her willpower being worn away the longer Velvet's panicking went on. Coco tightened her lips to keep from smirking or vocalizing, but the trembling open-mouthed look of horror Velvet was sporting overcame her defenses.

Against every single shred of her better judgment, Coco smiled at her before giving a small sigh "Oh Velvet, how forward of you."

Velvet practically launched herself away, struggling to find purchase in her panicked state. Thankfully, Coco took hold of one of her flailing hands before she could careen off the side of the bed, but Velvet seemed to go limp in her grasp.

Pulling her towards her a bit, Coco was able to confirm that Velvet had indeed managed to burn herself out again. Coco sighed as she let the unconscious girl fall forward against her, but her eyes quickly opened upon hearing another voice speak up.

"Should we move her to her bed?

Coco slowly looked over to see Yatsuhashi watching her from his meditative position, and she frowned before releasing a sigh "Be straight with me, big guy. How much of that did you hear?"

"Far more than I wish to share."


	4. Precious Place

What had she done?

Velvet had been stuck with this question thrashing around in her skull all throughout the morning. The memory of last night's 'incident' haunting her through both breakfast and classes, the fresh image of what she'd almost done sinking into her like a deathly chill. And yet somehow the world around her was moving regularly, acting as if she hadn't almost done something horrible yesterday. Acting like she hadn't lost control of herself, as if she hadn't nearly taken advantage of her girlfriend.

Even now, whilst waiting for Professor Port's class to end while he spouted another probably fake escapade, Velvet was just waiting for Law Enforcement to kick in the door and drag her away to jail where everyone else who couldn't control themselves were locked away from everyday people. Her eyes darted quickly between her teammates, wondering when they'd restrain her and call for her incarceration. And Coco, oh sweet Coco hadn't even looked at her all class. Somehow she managed to withstand sitting next to her attacker, but had kept her eyes glued to her notebook the entire time.

Surely this would be the last time Velvet would be able to enjoy the other girl's presence before her sentencing. Truly, she didn't deserve this show of mercy! Maybe... just maybe if she got on her knees and begged for forgiveness, she'd be able to keep herself out of court. But what would be the point if Coco never forgave her?

"-and by the time the Ursai had broken through my defenses, it was already far too late!" Port declared before turning away from his class and giving a hearty chuckle "My plan was already in motion, and they'd fallen directly into the path of an incoming flood of-!"

The bell interrupted what had to have been his third story this period, and already students were moving for the door. Velvet flinched at every figure who passed, heart beating faster and faster as the room emptied, until she froze at the feeling of a familiar hand grabbing her wrist.

"Got it," she heard Coco say "come on Vel."

Ah, of course they'd let the victim herself enact personal vengeance first. After Coco was done, no doubt the others would return with the proper authorities. Her resistance crumbling under the weight of guilt, Velvet allowed herself to be led by the hand by Coco, who seemed to be looking over her notes. Velvet swallowed dryly at the sight, was it possible Coco had detailed an extensive list of punishments with which to enact upon her? There was no doubt in Velvet's mind that she deserved whatever had been written.

"See you guys!" Coco called out as the team split, with them going down an alternate hall from Yatsuhashi and Fox, she then turned to her notes "Okay, we can start with the workshop and work along-"

"C-coco?"

Pausing, Coco turned and raised an eyebrow "Yeah?"

"I-I know it's not much..." Velvet couldn't dare to look her in the eyes "B-But I'm sorry...and I'm willing to take... whatever you m-might have planned."

"...cool?"

"But just know... despite my actions... even if you c-can't ever forgive me-!"

"Vel," Coco interrupted her whilst lowering her glasses a bit "mind filling me in on what you're apologizing for?"

Velvet blinked, surely her ears were playing tricks on her "A... About yesterday."

Velvet flinched at a vocalization she hadn't anticipated. Coco was quick to release her hand and cover her own mouth to try and hold it back, but Velvet heard it clear as day: a snicker.

"Oh!" Coco said through her fingers whilst pausing to hold back more laughter "You getting hung up on that?"

"I.. O-of course I am!" Velvet stammered out before clenching her hands tightly "I almost-!"

She bit her tongue and glanced away as the sides of her eyes watered in shame "Coco... I attacked you!"

"Don't know if climbing into my bed counts as an attack, Hon." Coco said before pausing and putting a finger to her lip in thought "I mean, to some people sure, but I break through solid walls with a handbag so..."

"That's not an excuse!" Velvet exclaimed before hiding her face in her hands "I didn't even know what I was doing! And the next thing... I mean, I was on top of you and-"

"You know, I don't know about you," Coco stepped around her fretting teammate and wrapped a free arm around her waist "but seeing my girlfriend get all kinds of flustered because she really liked ear rubs is pretty adorable."

"But I-"

"And Vel, let's not kid ourselves here." Coco turned and shot her a smirk "Do you really think I wouldn't be fully capable of launching you right off that bed if I really thought you were attacking me?"

"You wouldn't." Velvet answered immediately, making Coco tilt her head to the side

"And why not?"

"B-because you're always afraid of..." Velvet looked away "of hurting me."

"Oh...my...god." Coco said slowly before quickly pulling her into a bear hug "Velvet, if you aren't the cutest damn thing on all of Remnant, I will eat my own Beret. But if its still such a big deal to you, how about you pay for whatever we decide on for our date? Can we just let that be enough to resolve this?"

"Y-you mean you still want to-?" seeing Coco nod made Velvet's words trail off, and she once more looked down until Coco tilted her head up.

"Just make sure you tell me about your kinks beforehand next time, eh?" Coco noted before giving one of her rabbit ears a playful poke.

At that Velvet pulled away immediately as her face went red "It's not- I mean-!"

"Oh come on Vel, almost everybody has one. Nothing to be ashamed of." Coco shrugged before taking a few steps forward and glancing back with a smirk "I might not look it, but I'm a sucker for a good cuddling."

Velvet had to shake her head to keep that knowledge from distracting her too much, which only led Coco to give another small giggle before raising her notebook again and look over its contents. Unfortunately for Velvet, another minor detail was quick to replace it in the forefront of her mind.

"Anyway, back to the whole 'Date' thing, I've made a list of places where we regularly interact." Coco shook her notebook for emphasis "I'm sure if we look at all of them we can find a perfect place to get all romantic and stuff."

Velvet was still mulling over a small piece of information as they walked, until she realized she recognized the direction they were taking.

"Ah, I see you noticed it too." Coco snickered before giving a shrug "Figured we'd start with the Workshop since I can't really remember anything but good times we've had in there. Now I'll admit I don't really see it as the most obvious choice, so I need you and your Lover's Eye."

Now it was Velvet's turn to raise an eyebrow "My what?"

"Your Lover's Eye, because you got an eye for romantic stuff." Coco explained "I'm kinda garbage at noticing stuff like that, but you seem to always take note of it. I mean, you're kinda the only one I could picture timing a confession with the rising moon that perfectly. I figured that where I might see the regular workshop you'll see _the place where we put our heart and soul together to make amazing things_."

"Coco..." Velvet trailed off for a moment before suddenly raising her voice "F-follow me!"

Coco raised an eyebrow as Velvet rushed ahead of her, but merely gave a curious smile before following behind her. As they walked, Velvet tried to rationalize Coco's excessively forgiving nature. She couldn't be human, no normal person would just brush something like that off, right? In Velvet's books, the only ones who would leap into bed with someone like that were either deviant antagonists or part of the rowdy side-couple who the main characters regularly compared their budding relationship to. Then again, similar books always went on about how touching the ears of your Faunus partner was a sign of trust, and yet the very same thing led her to abuse that trust!

Was there anything she could still believe in? Yes, and it was walking right behind her. Coco must have the patience of a saint to deal with someone like her, romantically or not. Velvet was convinced she really didn't deserve it, not with how much of an embarrassment she'd been during their first few days 'dating'. Coco deserved more, something better...

Coco raised an eyebrow once Velvet led the way outside, her confusion becoming more notable once her teammate finally came to a stop before a rather nondescript water fountain. Velvet took several steps towards it and fiddled with the nozzle a bit as the memories came right back to the forefront of her mind. Almost on autopilot, she pulled out her scroll and began hastily going through her gallery. She was sure she'd sent it to her scroll, she just needed to- there it was!

"D-Do you remember this?!" Velvet asked as she presented a particular image of Coco winking to the camera.

Coco looked at the image for several seconds before snapping her fingers "Oh yeah, it was like... right here!" she put a finger to her lips for a moment before smiling "It feels like ages ago, I forgot how well this one came out."

Velvet closed her eyes for a moment, so she really didn't think much of it. She knew just how likely the possibility was, but flinched when Coco hooked a finger under the scroll to hold it steady in her teammate's hands as she leaned in closer to better appreciate the picture.

"God, I look great in this one!" Coco noted, to which Velvet was quick to nod in agreement "You should totally send it to me afterwards. I don't mean to sound vain or anything, but I don't think I'd be able to find a better self-portrait."

"You c-could!" Velvet blurted before she could stop herself, once more letting her eyes dart around a bit before lowering her voice "I mean, since you always seem to look so... so good."

Coco smiled before folding her arms and waiting for her teammate's breathing to a calm a bit before continuing "So Vel, I take it this has something to do with us finding special spots, eh?"

Velvet was quick to nod, but after a time she could feel her leader's confusion growing until Coco continued with "How?"

Velvet's throat was dry, and the second she opened her mouth she already knew her words would jumble. Snapping her lips shut again, she turned and pointed directly at the water fountain.

"....The fountain?" Coco actually lowered her sunglasses as Velvet nodded again.

"I-It's special...to me."

They were both silent for a while as Coco seemed to go through the five-second method of processing that information. For Velvet, it was an entirety as she was left to her own thoughts, trying to hide the embarrassed expression on her face by looking away whilst trying not to make it too obvious.

Finally, Coco leaned forward a bit "Sorry Vel, guess I really don't have your Lover's Eye. Mind helping me out here?"

"I-it's where I realized how scared I was."

"Okay, not the first descriptor I'd expect for a special place." Coco commented

"Before the fountain-! I mean, we were already hanging out." Velvet explained before gazing wistfully at the fountain "But after I got that picture of you, I-I started thinking about things differently. About you... and me. And I realized that... t-that when we graduate and become true huntresses, I didn't like the idea of us splitting up. I'd be sad if Yatsuhashi and Fox left, they've been so patient with me, but you..."

Velvet turned back to Coco with a panicked expression "I-! After all you did to help me, I hated the idea of us going our separate ways! Even though you deserve so much better!"

"Hey now." Coco interrupted with a raised hand "That's a dangerous train of thought, Vel."

"But it's true! How haven't you noticed?" Velvet shook her head before embracing herself and looking away "I mean, just think about how long it took for us to actually use the term 'girlfriend!'"

That made Coco raise an eyebrow "What?"

"It's been nearly two days and only a couple minutes ago did either of us refer to the other as a girlfriend!" Velvet pointed out before pressing her hands to her head and groaning "Even though that's what we are! Not that I can complain, not when I've been making you do all the work!"

"Vel-"

"It's true, here you are doing the work for the both of us while I've been struggling not to just break from the pressure." Velvet gave a shaky glance towards Coco before closing her eyes "I couldn't even finish confessing."

Coco narrowed her gaze as she heard Velvet's breathing pick up. Those shaky breaths got more and more heavy until Coco resumed approaching. However, she didn't even make it two steps before Velvet's eyes shot wide open while she took in a deep breath.

"I love you!" Velvet suddenly shouted with enough force to make Coco take a step back, "I just... you make me feel really good about myself! A-and I think you're really beautiful and strong and I enjoy all the time you spend with me and when we're together I feel safe! Safer than with any weapon, wall or distance I could put between something! You're better than all of that and I just... I-I love that feeling so much!" 

Coco blinked, seemingly unprepared for the sudden barrage of romantically charged compliments. She tried squeezing a word of thanks in, but Velvet was far from over.

"You make everything seem simple, I never would've even been able to speak to half the people here without your help! And I love how good you are with weapons, and how generous you were to help me with mine! I never would've thought I could turn my hobby into something genuinely useful. But you-! You made it something that could help everyone so much more than when I just took pictures for my sake a-and-!"

"Velv-"

"And... and I... I love it when you smile at me... b-because even if I don't know why it always makes me feel like I accomplished something. And I love how you always seem to see good things in me despite all the things I've managed to screw up. Even though I'm such a d-disaster magnet you did all that work to show me just how much of a genuine friend you were even when I was being too stubborn to see that!"

"Velvet..." Coco said slowly whilst taking her hand

"And I know it's stupid..." Velvet glanced back to the fountain "but if I never would've taken that picture right here next to this fountain, I may never have noticed how terrifying the thought of losing all of that was. It's precious, because it showed me just how precious everything else was: like the meals, and the talks, and the encouragement."

Velvet continued listing things off as Coco pulled her into a hug, giving her encouraging pats on the back until she finally trailed off into her usual nervous mutterings. After some time, Coco managed to lead her over to the nearest bench where they sat and just stared at the fountain until Velvet seemed to regain her bearings.

"You know what I always loved about you?" Coco asked as they sat together, looking over to see Velvet curiously meeting her gaze "I mean before all this romance got thrown in the mix?"

When she received no reply, Coco turned to look ahead and raised a finger for emphasis "I always just adored how despite how much you always seemed afraid or hesitant, it never kept you from powering through."

At that, Velvet raised her head a bit more.

"Not once during our entire time as a team have you ever run away from anything." Coco stated "Sure you might try to avoid what upsets you, might even try to just flat out ignore it, but whenever you've been brought face to face with it, I'd challenge anyone to describe a single point where you ran instead of soldiering on."

Velvet kept silent at that, trying to hide the blush growing on her face as she let Coco's compliment sink in. Her girlfriend seemed content with leaving it at that, but Velvet needed another minute to calm herself down lest she devolve into another series of nervous gibberish. Luckily, Coco didn't seem to mind the silence, as she relaxed and took in their surroundings with that air of casual enjoyment that only someone as chill as her could. Velvet managed to swallow her embarrassment long enough to try and relax as well, but compared to her girlfriend, she knew her efforts were paltry.

"We... we aren't really going to have our first date here... r-right?" she finally managed to ask while nodding towards the fountain, causing her leader to snicker

"I mean hell, as odd as it seems I'd probably be perfectly willing if you were." Coco said with a humored grin "I mean, there's some other places I was planning on looking over, but if you're dead set on here then-"

"N-no! I mean," she looked away "I asked you... so it should be somewhere that you-"

Her words turned into a surprised squeak of embarrassment as Coco wrapped an arm around her waist and lowered her glasses "A date's supposed to be good on all fronts, hon. How about it be somewhere we _both_ like?"


	5. A Particular Pest

Coco loved to be seen, if her eye for fashion and overabundance of presence weren't indicative enough. She was used to walking into a room and immediately having dozens of eyes on her, she thrived off stuff like that. It was why she wholeheartedly accepted the growing community of fans she'd accumulated, and why she just couldn't help but strike poses whenever she sensed a camera on her. Hell, it had gotten to the point where she'd pose even without nearby cameras just to emphasize how amazing she looked.

So for her, waiting patiently and keeping a low profile was an alien concept.

That was more of Velvet and Fox's forte. As for her, despite the incredible size difference between her and Yatsuhashi, she undoubtedly held the title of the loudest and most eye-catching member of their team. She just loved big, exasperating fights where she could just destroy a bunch of monsters with either brute force or a hail of artillery whilst looking like a goddess of war. That was her element, and she had made that very clear to everyone as her mini-gun got progressively louder and more destructive over time.

So sticking to the sidelines while Yatsuhashi and Fox trained without jumping in was pretty taxing for her. Yet here she was, goading them to push themselves to pass the time. Now one may wonder: Coco, if you're so horrible at doing this thing and don't like doing it, then why are you doing it? The answer was simple, as it had been the answer to why many people did things they didn't want to or even put themselves in positions they would often steer clear of: Romance.

At this very moment Velvet was planning on surprising her with a picnic date, and Coco had caught wind of it. Well, actually it was more like she spotted Fox and Yatsuhashi being forced out of their room, and as she approached she just so casually heard Fox complaining about why people still used picnic baskets instead of more convenient carrying cases. As soon as he spotted her and called her out, Coco had been more than capable of catching the tail-end of a fearful gasp coming from their room and... well, she managed to put two and two together.

Thankfully her quick thinking kicked in immediately and she offered to hang out with them. She faltered only momentarily when she heard they were going to the training room, as she was fairly certain that post-workout Coco wouldn't be the best form to take on a first date. She feigned exhaustion, and after some indicative nods towards their room, her teammates seemed to catch her drift. As she left, she heard a sigh of relief coming from right behind the door... real subtle there, Vel. Real subtle.

So now she just had to wait for Velvet to finish her preparations, right? Well, that maybe wouldn't have been much of a problem if not for the fact that half an hour had passed and Coco was already feeling tempted to join her teammates in some good old friendly violence. If Velvet showed up and saw them having the times of their lives, Coco could easily see her losing her momentum and putting it off for a later time. That couldn't happen. She was supposed to be making Velvet's first girlfriend experience the best one she could, and it had taken the fountain situation to show her just how difficult that would be.

Admittedly, the awkward staring, ear-tugging and panic attack hand-holding were also very blatant indicators, but the fountain went a step further. Coco had to finally admit that despite painstakingly building her friend's confidence up over their time at Beacon and becoming versed in the duality of Velvet, this new stage of dating her had Coco navigating in the dark. She'd assumed she could handle this easily given how well she'd gotten along with Velvet, but no. She'd have to relearn all the new tells that came with Velvet's dating side. It would be a challenge, but compared to what she's already gone through to get this far, she knew she could see it through to the end.

Pausing to strike a determined pose, Coco balled one hand up into a fist as a sign of determination.

Especially after that heartfelt speech Velvet had ambushed her with. Coco had been so ready to comfort her teammate during her self-deprecating ramble that when it suddenly turned into a barrage of compliments she'd been caught off guard. Suddenly, Velvet had turned the tables on her and even caused her to falter in her response for a moment. Making Coco stumble to respond was not an easy task, and that Velvet's gush of emotions was capable of doing so had worried her initially. She'd been overcome with some odd mix of respect, pride and admiration that had hit her with such force that her confidence had taken a second to catch up. It was unmistakable, she'd been stricken into silence by the warm, encroaching feeling of love.

Coco gave a small laugh at that, leave it up to Velvet to blindside her with affection. It had been a humbling experience, as Coco had never actually been overcome by a blush before. She'd gone red in the face plenty of times, even after becoming experienced in dating. But that long-winded confession had actually managed to drive away all thoughts she could've had at that moment. At the time she was practically swimming in embarrassment, but thinking back to it felt nice. From the sudden increase in her heart's pounding to how long it had taken her to actually respond to Velvet, Coco couldn't think of any other way to label it but the power of love.

Which meant this first date had even more reason to go flawlessly. Up until then Coco had been working to make this dating thing go well mostly for Velvet's sake. But now that she could easily distinguish her own love for Velvet from her usual forms of compassion, Coco could readily admit to wanting to feel more of that pleasant feeling inside. And getting there meant waiting in anticipation for what sounded like a lovely picnic together.

That very anticipation manifested itself in her cheering, as Yatsuhashi and Fox laid into one another she was practically coaching them mid-battle. Fox could beat Yatsuhashi in terms of speed any day, but kept diving out of his range to avoid the swings his giant blade. Coco could understand that, getting slammed into a wall by a table-sized sword was something most people wouldn't want to experience more than once. And even though Fox could take more of a beating than Coco or Velvet could, getting caught in a Yatsu-Slash was still pretty devastating.

Which meant that the two would end up in a stalemate for most of their practice sessions, as Fox couldn't get too close without risking getting caught up in an attack, and Yatsuhashi couldn't accurately hit Fox without compromising his defense. The plus side? These long stalemates were perfect for training.

"Gotta keep an eye on his feet, Fox!" Coco called out as she watched her partner dart of the way of another attack "He was a bit off-center on that last swing."

"Sorry," he called back before rolling out of the way of another slash "Kinda hard to look down when a giant blade's coming at neck level!"

"Was that an excuse?" she asked before shaking her head "I thought you hated excuses. And Yats my man, he had his head turned away for a full two seconds while answering me. Where's the capitalization?"

"I considered it unkindly to impede your dialogue." he replied whilst using his massive blade to intercept a flurry of strikes, but upon seeing the look on his leader's face he corrected himself "Interrupting's impolite."

"Impolite?" Coco placed her hands on her hips "Big guy, you know I love you. But when ya say stuff like that, I get a little worried."

It wasn't like she was incapable of holding back until Velvet showed up, but watching a brawl go on without joining in was a challenge. Probably why Coco never got into battle sports. There was another reason that she was itching for Velvet to hurry up, well two others to be precise. They didn't have the training room all to themselves, on the other side just happened to be Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing. Apparently they were trying out a counterweight that Sky had added to his halberd, so it seemed like he'd taken Russel's comments a few days ago to heart.

While it was often easy to ignore Team CRDL nowadays as most of them seemed to spend more time getting on each other's nerves instead of everybody else's, Coco found it especially hard today. Specifically because while his partner was busy trying out his weapon, Dove had been not so subtly staring at her the entire time.

Now Coco loved being seen, but getting eyed up by one of her girlfriend's former bullies was pretty annoying. She tried ignoring it, but seeing him every time she so much as glanced in their direction was not making her trial of patience any easier. Once more she spotted him, and once more he continued watching without even a hint of care of being caught. And while Dove may have been the member of Team CRDL she knew the least about, his constant oversight was enough to distract her from overseeing the training of her teammates.

Which was probably why she didn't notice Fox go flying at her until he slammed into the wall right beside her. She looked back to him before wincing at the way he slid down to the floor. A Yatsu-Slash was not to be taken lightly, as from that strike alone she could already see her partner's aura flickering.

"Seems like he managed to snag you." she pointed out

"Seems?" he grumbled as he picked himself up "Did you not see that cheap faint?"

"I'm fairly certain that misdirecting the opponent is proportional to our usual studies of engagement." Yatsuhashi pointed out as he lowered his sword "The undeniable reality that you succumbed to its-"

"Yats..." Coco interrupted him

He looked to her for a second before turning his attention back to Fox "You got played."

Coco did her best not to snicker at the way Fox fumed as he whipped out his scroll for a moment to check his Aura gauge, "Don't write me off just yet pal, I'm still good to go!"

"Even so, it would not have as much merit with our leader distracted." Yatsuhashi stated as he looked to Coco.

"That obvious, huh?" she folded her arms as Fox grunted

"If they're that much of a problem we can just chase them out." he said as he narrowed his eyes "Wouldn't even have to fight, if all three of us walk over at once I'm sure they'll run off with their tails tucked between their legs."

"Now Fox, we can't just scare off whoever we don't like." Coco stated with a wag of her finger before putting on her best posh tone "As upstanding students we've a right to maintain order."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't acclimated to it at this point." Yatsuhashi said with a pondering tone as he raised his free hand to his chin "Three days of supervision seems like a fairly long time to go without acknowledging it."

He thought about that for a moment before looking down to notice his teammates staring at him, "What?"

"Three days?" Coco asked slowly

"Every time you've been in the same area as him." Yatsuhashi nodded before blinking "Did... nobody else notice?"

"This didn't seem like something to mention?" Fox bit as he marched over to him "Why? I thought we weren't letting them just get away with whatever the hell they wanted!"

"I was sure the rest of you were aware." Yatsuhashi defended himself before giving a thoughtful hum "His attempts at covering his tracks were considerably lacking."

"You saying it's our fault?!"

"I've no recollection of those words being spoken by me."

Fox scoffed before raising a finger "All it takes is one ass hat thinking he can get away with something for the rest of them to follow." he turned back to Coco "Can we pull some scare tactics now?"

She wasn't there, and Fox's eyes widened at the sudden lack of Coco until he heard Yatsuhashi say, "She didn't even wait for you to finish questioning me."

Fox's head jerked back to Dove and Sky, only to spot Coco already halfway towards them.

"Yo Dove!" she called out as she approached "Can I have a word with you for a sec?"

She had to give it to him, he kept staring the entire time she approached. Even Sky seemed to take note of her intent, as he immediately nudged Dove and finally broke his constant stare. Dove glanced at his partner, who gestured for them to bounce, but Coco wasn't willing to let him off the hook.

Apparently, Dove agreed.

He shrugged Sky off and turned back to her before shrugging "By all means, let's talk however you want."

Oh, so that's how he wanted to play this.

"Be a shame to interrupt your partner's training though." she pointed out

"Guess we'll have to leave him to it, then."

Sky took note of that implication immediately, wasting no time in glaring at his partner "I thought you told Cardin you wouldn't-"

"Sky please," Dove interrupted before gesturing to Coco "the lady needs to tell me something. Don't be rude."

Even as they left, Coco could almost hear the Sky angrily grumbling under his breath.

Once they were outside the training room and Coco took note of the lack of others, she cut to the chase "Mind telling me why you've been spying on me for the last few days?"

"I don't even know why you're so hung up on it." he raised a finger for a moment before pointing to her "I would assume that someone like you just loves other peoples attention."

She couldn't exactly deny that, but that wasn't exactly the problem either.

"The difference between you and others is that we ain't exactly on good terms, pal." she was quick to reply "Gonna answer my question or what?"

"Pfft, fair enough." he shrugged before glancing away "I took note of how close you and the rabbit girl got a while ago, I merely got invested in keeping tabs on that."

That was it? He just got interested in them because of their relationship? Even if that was the cause, it didn't stop Coco from taking offense at his particular labeling of her girlfriend "Her name's Velvet."

"Of course it is." he waved that off before putting his hands on his hips "Honestly, I was sure you two would fall apart in a day. Congratulations, for lasting this long."

"You don't know anything about us, Dove." Coco stated

"I don't?" Dove reiterated before looking up for a moment "I know your pet girlfriend's made of glass and you're utterly terrible at connecting with her particular brand of intimacy."

So he was just watching and waiting for them to break up? Coco wasn't sure what she'd expected. Again, Dove was easily the Team CRDL member she knew the least about, but she probably should've expected his reasoning to piss her off.

"I've seen the people you hang out with and how you interact with them." he continued "Nothing interesting really, but the Faunus is another story. I'm a very 'watch and enjoy' type of guy, so I was able to pick up on all types of her little tidbits back when Cardin was having her for lunch."

He folded his arms and shook his head "So I thought it a shame that the most recent chicks to hook up would be such polar opposites like you two, but in a drought such as mine I was willing to take what I can get."

"A drought?" Coco tilted her head before lowering her glasses and glaring at him "We aren't some reality show you can just place bets on, Dove."

"Might as well be." he sighed before meeting her glare "And since you're the only channel on, I suppose I should admit that you two lasting this long's made your eventual break up less enjoyable to expect. So how about I make amends for my oh so terrible thinking by offering some aid?"

"Oh, so first you expected us to break up and now you want to help us? Really?" Coco gave a small snort "And I'm really supposed to believe that?"

"Believe what you want, but a relationship like yours acts on borrowed time until one of you makes a slip-up you can't recover from." He stated before smirking "You need all the help you could get."

"Oh no! This bad omen from one of my Girlfriend's old tormentors is really gonna convince me to trust him!" Coco feigned panic before adopting a frown once more "Just keep away from the both of us and end this discussion before you get yourself in some trouble, Dove."

He leaned forward at that and smirked "Not gonna demand I apologize for anything? Perhaps for my distasteful descriptors of your pet girlfriend?"

At this point, Coco was certain he was actively trying to push her buttons, but she wasn't one to cave to prodding. Everybody knew that she was a bastion of keeping her cool. But despite that, she felt her demeanor pressured by the way he kept dragging Velvet's name through the mud. It gave her pause, as she'd never felt this close to lashing out before. Even when she'd figured out what Cardin and them had been up to, she'd managed to keep calm enough to rally the guys and take action. But even with prior experience to how bad this particular team could get, Dove's low blows were having far more of an effect than they had any right to.

"You wouldn't mean it even if I did." Coco replied before shaking her head at him

He smiled at that, but before he had a chance to follow up in any fashion the training room door was flung open as Sky stumbled out halberd in hand.

"That's it!" he shouted before immediately locking his gaze on them "Training's over, let's get the hell out of here."

Dove glanced back to him "Settled on a proper distribution eh?"

"No, that dude back there's been giving me death glares since you left!" Sky jerked a thumb back inside.

Looking past him, Coco could indeed spy Fox glaring holes into the back of his head from inside the training room while Yatsuhashi was unsuccessfully trying to garner his attention.

"It's been like this ever since you two left!" Sky exclaimed before letting his weapon hang low "What exactly were you talking about anyway?"

Dove sighed before walking over to him and gesturing back to her "Ms. Adel here heard me saying some choice things about her unfortunate Faunus friend a while ago and didn't take kindly to it, that's all."

Before Coco could call him out on his blatant lie, a confused voice called out from behind her.

"C-Coco?"

Oh of course, that just had to be when Velvet finally showed up basket in hand ready to whisk her away.

"A-are you okay?"

Coco went into damage control mode immediately, turning back to Velvet and slapping on her most confident smirk and pose combo. But before she could dissuade any potential fears, Velvet surprised her by speaking up first.

"Hey!" Velvet called out before quickly trying to adopt a look of determination "You guys b-better not be giving her a hard time!"

To say Coco was shocked was an understatement. Was this another new feature that came with their budding relationship? Was Velvet just suddenly capable of overcoming her own merciless anxiety in the name of standing up for her?

"Us? Its your psycho leader who can't take a joke!" Dove exclaimed before glaring at her "I almost feel sorry for you rabbit-girl, having to deal with such a humorless tyrant!"

"Maybe she d-doesn't want to hear jokes from you!" Velvet walked to Coco's side as Dove backed up to his teammate.

Coco didn't know what Dove was trying to accomplish. As soon as Velvet called them out his demeanor shifted entirely. That smarmy smile was replaced with an agitated glare almost immediately as he drew closer to Sky, and that annoyingly casual tone was replaced with one edging more on panic than anything else. Coco didn't have much time to question this further, as she soon became aware that Velvet was subtly trembling under their combined gaze.

She could deal with them later, right now Velvet needed some support. Coco quickly placed a comforting hand on Velvet's back as she drew her closer, taking note of how her tense muscles relaxed under her touch. Not one to leave anyone on the front line alone, she readopted her confident smirk before glancing back over to them.

"She's got a point, boys." Coco stated "You aren't exactly the funniest comedians I've come across."

Sky, for his part, seemed to find the situation even more confusing then Coco did, quietly glancing at Dove with a look of suspicion. Dove actually flinched away at Coco's rebuttal before rolling his eyes and glancing to his teammate "You sure you want to quit early? Cardin said to practice with modifications for at least-"

Eager to escape the situation, Sky nodded "I don't care man, I'm already off my game."

"Guess we better get your story right, eh?" Dove sighed before patting him on the back and leading him past them.

As Dove led his teammate away, Velvet finally released a breath of relief before turning to Coco. Coco was still trying to piece together what had just happened with a bit of a frown, but she couldn't exactly call herself a socialite if she couldn't easily take advantage of the opportunity the previous few minutes of idiocy offered her.

"Well look at you, riding in on a white horse to save me." Coco cooed whilst placing her hands on her own hips "Anything I could do to repay you for that rescue?"

"Oh I-!" Velvet struggled to maintain her determination now that her old bullies were gone, but after another deep breath she hefted the basket in her hands and locked eyes with her leader "I-if you aren't doing anything... d-do you mind... sharing this with me?"

"Don't even have to ask, Hon." Coco stood to the side before holding out her hand.

Velvet went a bit wide eyed at the offer before quickly taking her hand. But while watching her give a shaky smile at the contact, Coco made the mistake of glancing to the side to see Dove giving her a thumbs up behind his back as he and Sky walked off.

Before she had enough time to dwell on the gesture, she was thankfully distracted by Fox's voice

"I'm serious, Coco, those leeches wouldn't stand a chance." he grumbled as he leaned out of the training room with Yatsuhashi not far behind "It'd only take like two seconds."

Yatsuhashi came to a stop beside him before shaking his head "To settle debts with intimidation and violence would be inadvisable without suitable cause to negate-"

"Yats." Coco sighed

"Not a good idea, bro."

"And besides," Coco tightened her grip on Velvet's hand "I wouldn't want to spend our first date worrying about you getting yourself into trouble, Fox."

Doing her best not to acknowledge the way Velvet seemed to instinctively draw closer to her at the mention of the word _date_ , Coco waved her farewell to Yatsuhashi and Fox before letting Velvet lead her away. 

That's right, she wouldn't let anything get in the way of them having their moment. Coco pushed aside the agitation Dove had managed to ignite inside her, propping up the usual confidence she always had by focusing on Velvet. Coco could deal with him later, right now it was Velvet's time. And she'd be damned if she let any member of Team CRDL ruin anything for Velvet ever again.


	6. Lover's Ledge

They'd almost done it again, ruined something for her.

Velvet was trying as hard as she could to soak in Coco's reassuring presence, but as they walked through the forest towards their destination, she just kept going back to that interaction back at Beacon. Coco had been having some kind of altercation with two members of Team CRDL. Velvet almost froze at the sight of them, as she'd been so focused on finding Coco that she'd been unprepared for interaction with some of her old bullies.

She might have even tried her normal routine of giving them as wide a berth as possible had her Girlfriend not been there, but she was, and so Velvet had done something she'd never done before. She'd mustered up every ounce of courage, swallowed her raging anxiety and called out to her. From the tail-end of the conversation she managed to catch, Coco must have heard them talking badly about her, and being the confident, protective type, of course she immediately took issue. Velvet wasn't about to risk having Coco get in trouble with Team CRDL because of her again.

Back before Coco had managed to convince her that she wasn't as unapproachable as she had assumed, Velvet didn't want any of her team knowing about her problems with Cardin or his teammates. She'd assumed they'd reprimand her for letting thugs like them make a fool of her, and couldn't bear the thought of them realizing what an easy target she was. But she couldn't just not show up to lunch, or avoid the classes where her tormentors would frequent. As long as she could just get away from her team, they wouldn't be able to see how weak she was. But Cardin, when he found out how easy it was, he'd always find her.

And once Coco found out, of course she'd rally the others to make a point about what happened to people who threatened her friends. As touched as Velvet was to see them going out of their way for her, she didn't want them having to get into fights for her. Luckily, by the time the two teams were face to face, Cardin already seemed caught up with something. His entire team had gone from group bullying to constant infighting, and that arrogant cockiness of his had crumbled into raw agitation.

She'd heard that something had happened with his team on a class outing that had turned them against each other, and the result of it was bare for anyone to see. Cardin didn't even have the patience to try arguing with Coco's demands when he was finally confronted. In fact, Velvet could somewhat remember his teammates arguing with each other even then. Whatever the case, it had been a while since she'd actually had to get close to Team CRDL, so she'd surprised herself when she managed to talk back to two of them.

But she had, and now despite being on the way to a well-timed, well thought out and exceptionally romantic picnic with the girl of her dreams, she couldn't stop thinking about them.

Velvet squeezed Coco's hand a bit tighter, garnering her attention for what must have been the third time. Though she smiled at her, Velvet knew that she must have been thinking about the same thing. Coco was able to chat easily almost anywhere and about almost anything. But despite being on their way to a wonderful meal together, she'd hardly said anything.

And without Coco's relaxing banter to drive away Velvet's anxiety, she saw only one option: she'd have to start the conversation herself.

So, with a careful breath, she said "S-So...crazy weather, right?"

From the look of confusion Coco gave her, Velvet knew she had failed immeasurably.

But like a beacon of light, Coco snickered and smiled at her verbal grasping "You noticed it too? Thought it was just me, but I've been noticing quite the romantic mood around here."

Velvet had to keep her lips shut to muffle the embarrassed squeal trying to fight its way out. Coco noticed... of course Coco noticed. This side by side walk through the woods at this specific time of day. Velvet knew that this picnic had to be beautiful, it had to be memorable and cherished. It would be just them, relaxing on a cliff with a modest meal... together... alone.

"Yes!" she finally managed to respond before tempering her volume and doing her best to maintain eye-contact "Do you like it? T-the mood I mean."

Coco gave a hum of thought before reaching up to adjust her sunglasses "Well if you're asking if I'm feeling like cuddling up any time soon... we're getting there."

Velvet desperately tried not to focus on the idea of actually cuddling with Coco, but her mind was adamant in its rebellion. She couldn't let her hopes get ahead of her, the last time she did was during the ear-incident. Despite how Coco seemed to brush it off, Velvet was determined not to overstep her boundaries again. But if Coco smiled and teased her like that... well, Velvet was ready to admit that there was no harm in hoping.

Coco gave a whistle as they finally pushed through some bushes to a fairly familiar ledge. Right here was where they'd actually assembled as a team for the first time after initiation, where they'd climbed out of the Emerald Forest on their first step to truly becoming Huntsmen. Coco just so happened to mention that she really liked how relaxing the view was after initiation. Coupled with the low wind at this time of day, the sheer ambiance, and the low possibility of being discovered by someone, it was perfect.

Despite the importance of this occasion, Velvet tried to make it simple. The scenery would do most of the work, the picnic itself would just be a standard affair. Even so, she darted forward and began setting up with a near-maddened amount of precision. Every corner of the blanket she brought had to be in just the right position, the basket set in the middle to weigh it down just in the off chance the wind decided to bring its terrible inconveniencing down upon them. Truly, this specific ledge would offer no protection if the elements suddenly decided to turn against them.

Velvet paused for a moment and wondered if she should acquire some rocks to pin it down just in case, maybe even grab a sufficiently large branch of leaves to cover them with. As her eyes darted to the nearest trees searching for one that might offer suitable protection, she flinched as something plopped down on the blanket. Head immediately jerking towards the sound, she found her heart rate calming down once she found Coco stretching out upon the soft fabric beneath them.

"You need help setting up or..?" Coco asked after reclining a bit

"No!" Velvet was quick to shout before catching herself and sealing her mouth shut for several moments, after which she whispered "Just- please get comfy."

Coco gave her a look before shrugging "If you say so."

Abandoning her preparatory measures, Velvet scooted over to her basket and immediately dug through it, using her search to mask the expression of embarrassment spread across her face. She needed to put her faith in the setting, she'd looked up weather patterns extensively just for this occasion! Even so, that meant Velvet had to focus on making sure she herself didn't somehow cause this entire venture to fall flat.

Looking over the provisions she'd prepared, Velvet found herself biting her lip. A blanket and a meal, that was what their first date was. But so far it just wasn't like the picnics in her stories. Well everything else was, Coco was as charmingly relaxed as usual and she knew for a fact that most couples would kill for a setting like this. But Velvet felt so on edge... her breathing becoming uneven as she realized once more that she was the only thing out of place here. Her offerings were paltry compared to the feasts laid out by the lovers in her stories, consisting of two thickly packed sub-sandwiches and chilled thermoses filled with soft drinks.

It was pathetic, but... she didn't know what else to do. All her other recipes wouldn't survive the trek here, and the ones that could wouldn't be able to maintain their alluring appearance. Of course, the sheer quantity of things in the subs could constitute a meal on their own, but Velvet had robbed Coco the benefit of a choice. Velvet's face tightened up, but she forced herself to press on. After all, that was something Coco always loved about her.

"I'm not much of a chef... but."

When Coco glanced over to the well-wrapped sub offered to her, the confused look she gave nearly caused Velvet to panic. But Coco merely leaned up with smile "Vel, what are you talking about? You've made those for the team before, we all loved them."

"Yes, b-but for a first date to be just this." Velvet tapped her fingers together once the sub was taken from her "Its... p-pretty small."

Coco lowered her glasses at that and sat up properly as she began unwrapping the sub "Then how are picnics usually supposed to go?"

That gave Velvet pause, and she looked up as her girlfriend explained, "Hard as it might be to believe, none of my exes ever took me out into the woods for meals. There's not much I could compare it to in that department."

"Do you... like it, then?" Velvet asked carefully

"Well, we've got a good location." Coco took a bite of the partially unwrapped sub and chewed for a moment before swallowing "A delicious little meal, probably topped with affection."

"That's p-probably just the mayo-" Velvet was interrupted as Coco's free arm found its way around her wast and pulled her into a side hug.

"Enjoying it with a downright adorable girl like yourself." Coco continued "Not much I could complain about here, Vel."

Ah..." Velvet tensed up, uncertain whether she should simply enjoy the contact or work to return it. Should she hug back? Recent events haven't shown her attempts at physical compassion in a flattering light. What if she ended up holding her in an awkward way?

Luckily for her, Coco gave her some space to focus on enjoying her sub. Velvet couldn't help but soak in the pride which came from seeing Coco enjoy her fixings, the smile on on her face causing Velvet to revel in a form of self-satisfaction she often wasn't allowed to indulge in. Yes, she'd made the same thing for her whole team beforehand, several times in fact. But they were a couple now... it made sense that this just felt better, right?

"You gonna have any?" Coco asked after swallowing another bite.

Velvet realized she'd been caught staring once more, and hurried to pull out the sub she'd prepared for herself "R-Right."

And so they ate in silence, letting the sheer atmosphere meld well with the flavor of Velvet's subs. It was only when Coco was halfway through her sub that Velvet revealed the necessary concession of the evening: a thermos full of Lili Fizz.

Perhaps the most difficult part of her picnic to put together, Coco's preferred drink didn't mesh well with the scene whatsoever. It was flashy and cheap without any heart put into it, and made Velvet's stomach churn just remembering how it tasted when she tried it. But Coco seemed to just love the stuff, as she seemed to grab a bottle after every class and training session.

Despite her personal distaste, Velvet had to admit that as she watched Coco take a large swig of the manufactured fluid, it looked downright appealing. But that was just how Coco was, making even something as horrid as Lili Fizz seem delightful to any onlooker.

Finally the subs were consumed, stomachs were filled, and Coco reclined on the blanket after they were done packing away their garbage. It still wasn't big by date standards at all, but Velvet was positively gleaming with warmth by the end of it. Occasionally she worried the silence would get awkward, but a single look at Coco's smile would rid her of those concerns immediately.

So as she was relaxing in the afterglow of what she assumed was a perfectly relaxing first outing, she was unprepared for the sudden question Coco posed to her.

"I'm still Coco to you, right Vel?"

Velvet blinked at the question, she looked down at Coco, who was still reclining back on the blanket, "What?"

"Dunno, guess I just feel like we haven't really been treating each other like the same people, ya know?" Coco tried explaining "Like, I'm pretty sure I'm the same... right?"

And suddenly Velvet's afterglow was washed away by a sudden surge of anxiety. That worried and introspective tone that Coco was using... was not comforting.

"Y-yes?" she tried answering

"Like, we're just Coco and Velvet trying to have a good old lovey-dovey time, right?" Coco continued as she glanced over to Velvet.

"Yes..." Velvet racked her mind, trying to figure out where this topic suddenly came from. She must've done something wrong right? Coco wouldn't just pull a tonal-shift like this without reason!

"I feel..." Coco leaned up a bit "...like you're trying to change yourself a bit too much for me, Vel."

Velvet blinked, "What?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm all kinds of proud of how much initiative your taking, but I kinda miss the things we used to do before, ya know?"

"Oh..." Velvet said slowly as she glanced down, hands shakily taking hold of the blanket beneath her "So you... you want to stop?"

"No!" Coco said quickly as she sat up and scooted over a bit "God no, Vel. I'm just getting used to being all romantic with you, I don't really want to just give up on that. I'm saying that I'd like to not have to pick one over the other."

Reaching over, Velvet had to fight to hold herself together as Coco placed both hands on her shoulders.

"I want to keep doing things we used to, along with the new dating stuff, 'kay?" she asked while nodding down at the box on her own hip "I want you to keep helping me with my baby here?"

Velvet was confused, but shook her head at that, "What? B-but its fine the way it-"

"Up up up!" Coco interrupted her whilst reaching up to lower her sunglasses so she could lock eyes with her "See? This is exactly what I'm talking about honey bun."

Velvet went wide-eyed at that. This was what Coco was worried about? Velvet hadn't even noticed it. She'd been trying so hard to be a good girlfriend that their usual routine kinda played a secondary focus. She wanted to be more invested in treating Coco nicely, to make up for the not so enjoyable tendencies that she knew she'd been subjecting Coco to since they got together.

But as Velvet thought about it, the more she realized just how much she'd been letting slip under her radar in her bid to impress. Coco was the type who enjoyed all those small friendly things, she was just more used to that stuff than Velvet and her non-existent social life were. Had she... really been depriving Coco of that?

Velvet searched Coco's face, and realized that despite the smile she was wearing, this was actually something that was really worrying her. Velvet knew worry, and she could recognize it anywhere, but it was just so... so unnatural to see it showing through Coco's casual demeanor. And realizing that she was responsible for that... it hurt... badly.

"I'm sorry-" she tried apologizing, only for Coco to pull her into a quick hug.

"Aw, no need for apologies, Vel." Coco cooed "Not like I'm losing sleep over it. Just trying to lay it all out there, ya know?"

She began pulling away, but paused when she felt Velvet slip both arms around her and return the hug. Stifling her nerves, Velvet threw caution to the wind and clung to Coco with a sigh, "I- for a second I was really... really worried there... sorry."

Coco tilted her head to the side "If you say something like that while making such a cute face, you're going to make me feel kinda guilty here, Vel."

Velvet pouted at that and turned her head away whilst trying to contain her blush. But before she could calm herself down enough to offer some kind of reply, she felt a pair of lips press against her cheek. She locked up, thoughts melting away as she struggled to come to terms with what was happening. It wasn't what she thought, right? It couldn't be! But her gaze drifted to the side, finding that indeed, Coco was planting a warm kiss on her cheek.

Coco pulled away with a snicker as Velvet slowly brought a hand up to her cheek. She tried saying something, anything as she rubbed at the spot. The memory of Coco's lips had burned itself into her skin, spreading throughout her body until she could barely move. She needed to say something, the silence after such an act was getting to her. She moved her mouth, but the only things which spewed out were incoherent even to her. It wasn't working, everything just brought her back to that single chaste kiss.

A hand made its way around her waist and pulled her to her Girlfriend's side before she could ramble any longer. Velvet looked over to see Coco enjoying the view from their ledge before glancing back to her.

"I had a good time, Vel." Coco said with a smirk "Let's make the next date just as awesome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure, this chapter was supposed to be the original ending of this little romp. But as I wrote out the proceeding chapters, I sorta got a couple more ideas which I couldn't help building little scenarios around as I went.
> 
> So at the moment we're only halfway through. I've got a clear idea on how I want to end this right now, but considering that this was the original ending those plans may change too. Kind of hard to believe that this supposedly small idea was originally just an outlet for fulfilling a sudden need for more awkward Crosshares.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a comment if you are so inclined to do. Things you enjoyed about it? Things you hated about it? Expectations for the next chapter? Review at your leisure and I will see you all in the next installment of Trying Chocolate.


	7. Invested Interloper

Coco wasn't one to dwell on things for long. She prided herself on being able to let go of things and spring unweighted into whatever she does next. So she expected that after the walk back, a nice rest, some damn fine breakfast and some smooth classes, her thoughts would be centered more on today. However, even after walking out of the last class of the day, she still couldn't help reaching up to her mouth.

She wasn't new to kissing, on the contrary she had quite good reviews by many a lover who weren't prepared for her oral skills. If anything, the little cheek peck she gave Velvet was pretty much just a kiss with training wheels. Given how trained she was at the art of the make out, she knew that going too far with Velvet would most likely end up with her girlfriend having another panic attack. Her forethought paid off, as Velvet seemed positively beaming from that alone. Coco probably could've moved on to thinking about how next to move their blooming relationship.

Yet instead she found herself thinking back to it: the kiss. It was an odd realization that she kept coming back to it, or rather that she came back to Velvet's reaction. All those other kisses she'd gone through like a fine wine, and yet when she thought about that overwhelmed look Velvet sported she just couldn't help smiling.

Only one conclusion: it was yet another side-effect of love.

"That sounds utterly stupid and you know it."

Coco glanced back over to Fox, leaning casually against a nearby wall as he waited for her to finish ordering. Coco lowered her hand and took a step away from the vending machine to shoot him a curious look "But it makes sense, right?" she asked before tapping two buttons "Why else would I still be thinking about it?"

He shrugged "I don't know. Maybe you just aren't as experienced in love as you think you are. I mean, considering how you described your last relationships, I'm surprised you two didn't come back covered in hickeys."

Coco smirked and bent low as two clanks emanated from the base of the machine "Don't think old Coco has any self-control? You wound me. Besides, Velvet looked like she was about to spontaneously combust from that little peck alone. If I went all in right off the bat who knows what could've happened? She might've gone into a coma or something."

With a snicker to match her smile, she tossed a can to Fox "Besides, who are you to judge my methods, don't think I've ever seen you with a girl at all since we formed up."

He caught the can and pushed away from the wall before opening it, "I already told you, things like that require a level of patience that I just can't bring myself to muster."

"Its cool," Coco shrugged as she opened her own can "just gotta wait to find someone who can share in your annoyance, right?"

"Sounds like a horrible idea, all we'd do is argue." Fox pointed out before eyeing her and frowning "That stuff's gonna kill you, ya know?"

Coco paused with her tasty drink merely an inch from her waiting mouth, eyes growing quizzical for a moment "Huh?" she looked at the can "My Fizz?"

"That Lili stuff's like drinking acid," Fox grumbled before taking a swig of his own can "How do you think your fans would react if they find out their fashion icon drinks the soft-drink equivalent of rainwater?"

Coco blinked several times before taking a deep sip of Fizz "Everyone's got a weakness, Fox my boy. Mine just happens to be feeling the fizz."

The two enjoyed their drinks for several moments before Fox took note of several passing students "Looks like Oobleck let out, you going to meet up with Vel?"

"Nah, Yats already has that covered today." Coco finished off her drink "Besides, I'll be busy for a while."

Her partner raised an eyebrow at that "You... busy?" he murmured "Anything I should be worried about?"

"Nah," she waved him off before turning away "Just remembered that there's a pest I should deal with sooner rather than later."

At that, Fox actually smiled "Hold on, those guys never travel alone, so don't think I'm giving them the pleasure of a numbers advantage."

Coco tried convincing Fox that she was not trying to start a fight with the CRDL boys, but she could tell from the way he cracked his knuckles and grinned that he was still hoping. Despite this, she trusted him to not jump in before she could deal with Dove... probably.

Finding him proved rather easy, as after asking several other students they pointed her directly towards a scuffle going on near a stairwell not too far away. Should've been expected, Cardin's boys all had classes close by. What couldn't have been expected was finding Dove being pressed roughly against a wall by none other than Russel.

"Do you believe attacking me will make me apologize?" Dove pointed out before gasping as Russel shook him.

"Shut up, you shut your mouth and listen tight." Russel snapped before raising his other hand "Sky's having enough trouble keeping up without you ditching him to go panty-chasing. If you wanted time to throw your crappy pick-up lines around, should've made him stay and finish yesterday."

"I was preoccupied." Dove stated before smiling "I'm sure you can understand-"

"Don't you give me no damned excuses. Cardin let you two off the hook because you were supposed to make up for it today. But now, since you apparently don't give a shit, he's gonna be keeping all of us up all night! And for what? Flirting with some idiot chick who seemed fully aware of how much of a dumb ass you look like with your lame crap?"

"I wasn't flirting."

"Yo Dove!"

Russel looked over to Coco and Fox, face already twisted into a semi-snarl. His expression lessened a bit upon spotting them, but returned when Dove raised a hand to greet them "Ah, Ms. Adel." he said with a smile "I take it you're here to continue our conversation from before?"

Once more, that cocky smile of his didn't mix with the scene whatsoever. But Coco wasn't going to let his oddly relaxed attitude distract her. Thankfully, Fox seemed satisfied with looking as menacing as possible as he stood beside her, so she focused her attention on Dove.

"Pretty much," she replied, challenging his confidence with her own whilst glancing to his teammate "Unless you're... in the middle of something?"

At that Russel's snarl returned full force as he turned back to Dove "Yes, actually. Dealing with some crap I don't take kindly to, so if you could-"

"For your information, Russ my boy," Dove interrupted before nodding over to Coco "She's what kept me from assisting Sky yesterday."

"Seriously?" Russel didn't seem amused "Of all the people you'd try to weasel into it had to be her? I thought you gave up on her back before Cardin flipped his shit?"

"Flattered," Coco rolled her eyes before pointing at Dove "But I really do need to chat with him. Didn't really get to finish talking yesterday, and it was about some pretty important stuff that I needed to sort out so..."

"Wait," Russel's anger seemed to give way to confusion as he looked to her " _you_ talked to _him_?"

His grip loosened a bit until Dove was able to slip away and strike a pose "What can I say Russ, guess she just couldn't resist!"

"Watch it pal," Fox stepped in "I'm not exactly well-known for restraint like my partner here."

"Such hostility!" Dove jerked back before nodding to Coco "Mind tugging on the leash a bit, Miss?"

"That's enough!" Coco stated before taking a breath, "I was actually planning on talking alone... if you don't mind?"

Russel frowned as Coco grabbed Dove by the neck and dragged him away, only shifting his glare to match Fox's.

Coco was focused on finding a secluded place to finally talk Dove down, but she picked up the tail end of an unexpected conversation starting.

"When you gonna quit hanging with those idiots?" Russel asked under his breath

"Still making a ton of assumptions, aren't you?" Fox grumbled in response.

Though she looked back to them in confusion, Coco merely saw Fox walking away from a disgruntled looking Russel.

"Coco," Dove's voice cut in as she focused on pulling him along once more "I hope you know this may look quite suspicious to anyone who sees us."

"Just keep quiet." she sighed

Dove smiled up until Coco finally found an empty classroom to shove him into. At that point he he straightened his posture and adopted a more serious look "Okay, seems we're away from prying eyes, so how'd it go? I take it that everything went well, given that you aren't moping right now."

Coco narrowed her eyes "How'd what go, exactly?"

"Oh don't act like I'm some kind of blind bat here, Adel." Dove grimaced "Nervous girlfriend shows up with a basket in hand and the willpower to stand up to her past aggressors? You expect me not to pick up on what was happening? Lucky for you I'm flexible, even managed to throw in a little bit of confidence boosting at the end."

Coco sighed, so that's what he'd been trying to do with that sudden shift in demeanor yesterday. She'd guessed as much, but the idea of him manipulating Velvet's reactions like that put a bad taste in her mouth.

"If that worked out for you, guess you're moving on to a new act then." He continued "I've already considered how this particular phase of your relationship could go and-"

"You know," Coco interrupted him as she casually leaned back against a desk "I already didn't really see you as a guy who I'd go to for relationship advice. But after hearing Russ out there talking about your 'interests' I'm even less inclined to now."

"Take that waste's words with a grain of salt." Dove waved her off "He's too..."

He paused, something Coco hadn't expected given how animated he could be while talking. To her surprise, he actually grew a bit contemplative for a moment before angrily shaking his head.

"Ugh, just ask your attack dog." he finally grumbled "He could probably explain better."

"...Fox?" she asked

"My relation with Russel's a bit annoying to put into words." Dove admitted with a dissapointed sigh "If that little scuffle hadn't made that clear enough."

"I dunno man." Coco folded her arms "Given what I've seen so far I'm starting to think your semblance is just getting on people's nerves."

"No, its landing feet-first. Ironic, I know." He gave a small laugh before raising a finger "But back to the topic at hand, where to go next concerning you and little miss floppy ears."

"No," Coco wasted no time in responding "My only goal here is getting you to stop spying on us."

"Really now?" He asked before shrugging "Even when I'm well-versed in the same romantic standards your pet girlfriend has?"

Coco raised a finger before realizing exactly what he was saying, she then quirked an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"We've played keep away with enough of her books for me to recognize a great number of them." Dove explained "Though we probably enjoy them for vastly different reasons, I know more than enough to see exactly where her obsession with fantasy conflicts with your more grounded nature."

So that's why he was so convinced they weren't going to last. Sure, his casual way of reminding her of the torment he and his team had put Velvet through annoyed her to no end, but the logic held up. The idea that he and Velvet had even slightly similar interests was... disconcerting to say the least, but she maintained her level-headed visage whilst folding her arms.

"Oh really?" she asked in a challenging manner "And where exactly is that?"

"There's plenty!" Dove insisted "For instance, when you two finally get to-!"

He caught himself, giving a small cough into his hand and waving a finger at her whilst giving a small chuckle "Ah, I see what you're trying... No spoilers, I'm afraid, we have to focus on the issue at hand."

"No."

"Right now, I've already zeroed in on your different social climates."

"Dove-"

"I mean, that pet of yours barely had one before you had to work her over, so seeing how you work around that'll be-"

"Dove!" Coco rose her voice loud enough to snap him out of another tirade before taking a breath and asking "How about I find you something else to watch? I know tons of people in relationships, starting relationships, ending relationships. And most importantly, a few of them would probably _enjoy_ having you watch them."

"Don't mistake my completely innocent past time for some kind of fetish!" Dove insisted before casually looking away "Besides, I already sorta got started on that whole interweaving-social-circle thing, so it'd be a pain not to see it through."

Coco stared at him for several seconds, "What?"

"Seeing how your social lives affect your relationship and vice versa." he explained before gesturing towards her "I mean, most couples have to deal with that kind of thing sooner or later, so I figured tackling it while things were still fresh and malleable would be-"

"What... did you do?" she asked him slowly

"It seems as if I'm being accused of some type of foul play." Dove feigned worry before waving off her concerns "All I did was notify several of those fans of yours that you two hooked up and urged them to congratulate the both of you. A few didn't believe me, and I suppose Russel saw them shooing me and mistook it for my usual antics. Guess I was just unlucky."

Coco stared at him for several seconds before asking "Why?"

"Colliding social climates, hello?" he shrugged "Those seem to be the type of people you like idolizing you, so I wanted to gauge their reactions first. Eventually word'll spread to anyone who hasn't taken notice by now and we can finally get to work on act 2."

"Dove, I'll tell you right here and now that my team and my fans," she raised both of her hands in front of her and mimed them repelling each other "don't exactly get along easily."

Dove rolled his eyes "Well that's no surprise," he gestured towards her "If they idolize someone like you then that posse of socially inept loons you have for a team wouldn't fit their tastes at all now would they?"

"You know that... and yet you told them to seek out Velvet and I anyway?"

"Yes, that's the whole point."

Coco took a deep breath as she slowly raised her fist but, upon seeing Dove smiling at her as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with anything he'd just said, she merely pointed at him before asking "How long ago did you tell them?"

"Right after class, I only got to a few before Russel-"

With a sigh, Coco walked past him towards the door.

"All couples have to face these types of changes head on, Coco!" Dove called out after her "I know you won't thank me later because you've already gotten yourself stuck in a certain mindset but I'll do-."

She pushed her way out before turning away from the class and letting his voice get cut off by the closing door. Seriously, it had to be a semblance. His ability to get on her nerves was alarmingly potent. It was a question Coco would have to save for later, as right now she had to check and make sure nothing-

"Coco!"

The door behind her had barely even closed before another girl with sunglasses matching hers skidded to a stop before her and started gushing, "Oh my god! Oh my God, Coco! You have to be straight with me!" she proclaimed before catching her breath and raising two hands "Now see, I heard that you... you and that teammate of yours-!"

She paused and gave a discreet look around before whispering "-are dating!"

Coco raised an eyebrow before glancing back at the classroom door behind her. Through the door's window she spotted Dove ducking out of sight and gave a small shake of her head before turning back to the girl before her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Raising a finger to her own lips to quiet her down, Coco then said "You heard right, Dio."

Dio had to raise both hands to her mouth to hold back the squeal which tried fighting its way to the surface. She was so giddy that she started hopping from one foot to the other in order to contain her excitement.

Coco leaned back and gave a shrug "Guess that kinda got around, huh?"

After several more seconds of barely contained squealing, Dio finally quieted down once more and raised a finger before speaking quickly "Oh my God, you wouldn't believe it! Like, Eras and Briz got told by this really weird guy. They talked about it in a group chat and said he was probably lying but one thing led to another and they were like 'what?' and I was like 'maybe' and everyone was starting to get all crazy like and-"

Coco had to nudge Dio to cut off her rapid fire speech and nodded her head to the side.

Blinking several times, Dio suddenly got her implication and stood to the side to let Coco walk by before following behind. Coco had to hand it to him, Dove's ability to spread the news through her fan-base so quickly was impressive. If Dio was talking about the same group chat that Coco thought she was, then news was guaranteed to spread to the wider student populace in no time. And while she knew it would happen no matter what, the fact that Dove just had to 'speed things up' in some wild attempt to make them grow together was actually infuriating. She was positive Velvet would've appreciated the time to get acclimated.

Dio followed behind Coco as she walked, gushing endlessly about how amazing it was that she'd finally hooked up with someone. Excitement was her natural state of being, so Coco couldn't really bring herself to halt her near-frenzied level of speaking. Coco had gotten to the point where she'd started keeping track of how long this particular fan of her's could talk without taking a breath. Honestly? She could probably win some awards.

But Dio's constant stream of word vomit ceased immediately once they turned a corner to find Velvet and Yatsuhashi. Coco had been surprised, she had expected them to go to their room after Velvet got out of Oobleck's class or maybe have some old-fashioned partner alone time like Fox and her had. As the undisputed quieter half of their team, neither Velvet or Yatsuhashi made a habit of staying out in the open if they could help it. It was sort of why Coco was glad to have Dio's unrivaled ability to talk at her disposal, would've kept her busy while she searched for them.

But the reason for their unusual placement became clear as she and Dio approached. Both Yatsuhashi and Velvet seemed engaged in a discussion with two other students in the middle of the hall.

"-and she's just so hot and experienced that I wasn't sure what kind of demigod could possibly land her after such a long hiatus." a Faunus with dog ears drooping down from under her beret pointed out before nudging an upset looking boy at her side "This guy was going on and on about how it was a lie, but I knew from the moment I heard."

Coco sped up, for she could see that Velvet was visibly shaking even with Yatsuhashi's presence. To his credit, he was very quick to cover for her.

"I'm not sure my partner would like continuing this discussion in such a public place." he stated

"Oh!" the girl brought both hands to her cheeks "A humble one as well! And here I was figuring Coco had a Type! The shame... is mine."

Luckily, Dio called out before the conversation could continue "Yo Eras! Briz!"

All four turned to them, with Velvet especially going wide eyed and carefully making her way over to meet Coco halfway.

Dio was quick to give them space and slip over to the others while Velvet came to a stop before Coco and looked up with a face rife with embarrassment, "I-I didn't know what to say..."

"Oh my, they really do look well together." Coco could hear Eras comment as Briz groaned

"So its true?" he mumbled as Dio came to a stop beside him "Man, I was rooting for the dude."

Coco glanced over to Yatsuhashi, who merely gave her an even look as he stood off to the side.

Finally, she placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder and said "Don't worry, I got this."

And with minimal fanfare she slipped her hand down into Velvet's and turned back to her fans with a smile, "So, I see everybody's hearing about Vel and I lately."

"This one wouldn't shut up about it since she heard." Briz gestured to Dio

"And why would I?" she gasped before waving her arms wildly in Coco's direction "She's been one of Beacon's most legible Bachelorettes for so long I thought I was going to grow old and die without seeing anybody step up to plate! And now that it's happening I just-!"

Dio devolved into squealing once more as she hopped up and down in place, stopping only when Briz physically stopped her by pressing down on her head.

"I should've known you'd surprise us like this." Eras cooed as she looked them both up and down "Grabbing someone nowhere even close to your previous lovers. And a Faunus at that!"

She gave a sigh at that, letting both her head and her dog ears droop lower "If I'd known you were in the market for something like that-"

"Gonna stop you right there." Coco interrupted whilst pulling Velvet close "I wasn't technically even in the market, didn't stop her from whisking me away anywho."

"Coco!" Velvet gave a small whine "I just... I mean- I asked but-"

"Little did I know how smooth you could be." Coco sighed while gazing away wistfully "I don't think I've ever been courted so hard before."

"Smooth?" Velvet seemed confused by the mere idea "Me?"

"...Really?" Briz seemed to mirror her skepticism.

"I mean, out of everyone I've been with before, I don't think any of them have been as _romantic_ as you so..." Coco patted her on the back "Yeah, I think I'd call that smooth."

Even if Velvet didn't believe her, Coco's compliment worked, as her blush grew to greater proportions. Overwhelmed, Velvet buried her face into Coco's shoulder to muffle her messy words of appreciation.

" Well damn, congratulations." Briz finally seemed to get over his confusion and offer a smile before stumbling as Dio bumped into him roughly.

"It's amazing Briz! Isn't it amazing? I don't see you smiling eno-" she cut herself off with a loud gasp "We gotta update the chat! Everyone's still going cray-cray!"

Eras and Briz didn't have a chance to say anything before Dio took hold of both their arms and started dragging them away "Come on! I left my Scroll in the third floor lecture hall!"

Briz immediately tried breaking her hold, his angry demands jumbling every time Dio yanked him along.

Eras on the other hand called back with a smile "Coco darling, I expect some of the nitty gritty next time we meet!"

The moment they were out of sight, Coco glanced down to Velvet, who still had her face buried in her shoulder. Coco gave her another encouraging pat before looking to the side at Yatsuhashi. He hadn't moved since leaning against the wall, and was still staring down the hall before finally turning back and meeting her gaze.

"It would seem the individuals who have made a hobby out of idolizing you are rather eccentric in both figurative and literal definitions." he stated.

Coco met his gaze with a raised eyebrow, one she maintained for several seconds before Yatsuhashi finally looked down and reiterated "Your fans are loud."

"True," she admitted with a smile as she rubbed Velvet's shoulder "but they're all great at parties."

A tug on her sleeve brought her attention back down to Velvet, who peaked up at her for a moment as her blush finally started fading away.

"Feeling comfy there, Vel?" Coco asked as Velvet finally pulled away with a nervous expression "Sorry, I know they can get a bit intense, but they all-"

"Coco?" Velvet interrupted as she bit her lip and looked down "Do you think I'm...hot?"

To say she was taken aback would be an understatement, Coco had been riding high on the way she'd handled the sudden notoriety Dove had brought to their relationship. Velvet could've said almost anything at that point, brought any issue she wanted to Coco and she would've felt more than confident in her response. But Velvet wanted to know if Coco thought she was hot?

Coco eventually shook off her shock and smiled "Pfft, Vel ya don't have to worry about that. You're hands down one of the cutest-"

"Not cute!" Velvet interrupted before slowly patting her fingertips together "I-I mean you've been with others, so I just... I mean... compared to them...am I s-sexy to you?"

Coco once more had to keep herself grounded lest Velvet's question knock her right off her feet. Hot? Sexy? These weren't Velvet terms... they were...

Coco sighed. She had to have gotten this from Eras. Coco remembered many a times when she and Eras had talked at great length of their previous relationships using similar terms back when she had just started amassing a following, but just what had Velvet picked up from talking to her?

That was a question she'd have to deal with later, right now she had to take care of her girlfriend's worries. So once more she reached out and took hold of Velvet's hands before saying "Velvet, look at me."

Her girlfriend slowly met her gaze as Coco took another chance to take in her appearance "I love looking at you, gives me all sorts of happy feelings and stuff." she cooed

"But that's not...hot? I mean," Velvet shook her head "I just want you to be honest with me."

Coco rolled her eyes before pulling away "Well then, to be honest I've never really focused on the thought of you as being sexy or hot before."

She looked down for a moment "But I think I know why that is."

Velvet backed up a bit, going wide eyed and rubbing her arm nervously "Then... please tell me... I know you might not care but I really want to... look... good, I guess."

At that Yatsuhashi finally raised his head, catching sight of the smile Coco now sported before looking to Velvet and stating "A poor choice of words."

That seemed to knock Velvet out of whatever funk she was in, as she gave Yatsuhashi a confused glance right before Coco patted her on the back.

"Then I guess we're finally getting back to fleshing out that wardrobe of yours!" Coco said with an ear to ear grin, her statement causing Velvet's confusion to melt immediately into terror.

"Wait," her girlfriend said as she quickly tried backpedaling "I never said-"

"If you want to really feel hot or sexy and all that, you probably shouldn't have flaked out on so many of our shopping trips." Coco explained with a raised fist of determination "Forget being sexy, we're going to make you absolutely mouth-watering!"

"Wait!" Velvet stated before trying to look away "I mean, maybe I was just...we don't have to-"

"Nonsense!" Coco held her from behind and gave her a light spin "My adorable girlfriend is feeling insecure about her appearance, as the patron lady of all things clothing I'd never forgive myself for not rising to the challenge. In fact, we could probably knock this out in less than an hour if the airbus schedule works for us!"

And with that, her fate was sealed, and Coco happily tugged Velvet away. Velvet called back to Yatsuhashi desperately, "Wait, we have training to do today! Right Yatsuhashi? Yatsuhashi?!?"

At the frantic cries of his partner being dragged into the merciless world of fashion, Yatsuhashi merely gave a deep breath before repeating himself

"A poor choice of words, indeed."


	8. Cuddling Conundrum

Velvet didn't know how it came to this...

"No! Wait a minute Coco!"

She'd allowed herself to forget about this threat, the happiness of the last few days overwriting her usual caution.

"Please! I don't know if this- oh!"

Yet here she was, right in the middle of a place she'd hoped and prayed she'd never end up again. And as the curtain pulled back and she stepped out of the changing room for what felt like the millionth time in the past ten minutes, she collapsed to her hands and knees several feet from the seat Coco had placed herself on.

"C-Can this one be the last?" Velvet begged as she looked to her girlfriend for mercy "I... I don't think I can keep... doing this."

Coco raised an eyebrow at her before giving a curious glance around "Velvet, it took me ten minutes just to talk you into that one." she said with a shake of her head before gesturing to a neatly gathered pile of clothes beside her "We've got like six more outfits to try on."

To say the wails of Velvet's suffering could be heard by customers in the neighboring stores was not an understatement.

It had started as such a good day too, well... considering who you talked to. Velvet had been absolutely terrible in class, blanking on nearly everything Oobleck said, much to his displeasure. But she couldn't help it! Every time she tried focusing on something her mind kept shifting right back to the kiss. Coco's kiss... it was something she wouldn't be forgetting any time soon. More details clouded her thoughts as she struggled through history, the tender sensation, the warmth of Coco's breath against her skin, the slight tickle of cool air brushing against her burning cheek.

It was good... too good. Yet it wasn't like the dream that had led her to confessing, for this was something real. She didn't feel guilty about holding on to that feeling, so she latched on to it desperately. She indulged in that happy feeling of remembrance, letting it push away her usual worries to such an extent that she could barely even remember her early classes. It was so overwhelming that the moment she met up with Yatsuhashi she practically bombarded him with a recollection of the event for nearly half an hour straight. He'd been his quiet, attentive self as usual. Everything about the day just felt so good at first.

It was all that one girl's fault. Eras? Velvet had been so nervous at the time that she knew she'd missed something, but she was pretty sure her name was Eras. She and that other guy, Briz, had approached them while Velvet was still caught up talking about the previous day. Their unfamiliarity had broken her out of her recollection. To her surprise, they'd immediately started asking about her and Coco, which had caused her even more distress.

Yatsuhashi tried answering for her when he noticed how shaky she became, but it was no use. They just kept asking about her.

Eventually they seemed somewhat satisfied with their answers, although Briz still seemed upset about something. But they kept talking after that. Velvet had assumed they'd leave once their curiosity had been sated, but no. She didn't even know if Eras did it on purpose or not, but she mentioned something that Velvet had allowed herself to forget.

Coco's previous boyfriends. Velvet had been so caught up in the moment that she'd completely forgotten that Coco was, by all definition, insanely experienced in the dating field. When Eras noticed her reaction, she must have mistaken her worry for confusion and began emphasizing certain things about Coco's past relationships that Velvet hadn't even considered. How 'sexy' they were together, how close they were in the open... and how 'intimate' they apparently were.

This was all apparently stuff from before Beacon so Velvet actually didn't know that much about any of it. All she knew was that Coco had dated lots of guys, Coco had never gone into detail about 'how' she dated them. It was inevitable, Velvet couldn't help but wonder how their relationship related to Coco's previous ones. Coco liked to tease her occasionally, but she couldn't remember her being overtly physical with her. Velvet's mind was quick to rationalize it as Coco just being careful with her... but then there was that small part of her thoughts rearing its ugly head and spewing forth an idea that shook her to her core.

Did Coco... not think she was attractive?

A silly assumption that she tried initially waving off. But as it festered, so did the realization that not once in their entire time knowing each other has Coco ever referred to her as 'Hot'. But apparently she labeled all of her previous boyfriends as such. Velvet had heard Coco refer to herself that way so many times it became something to expect, so she was clearly very close-knit with the term. But for Velvet it had always been 'Cute' or 'Adorable', labels she once cherished now seemed off as she realized just how different they were from Coco's norm.

These dreaded thoughts caused her to lock up, leaving Yatsuhashi on his own to continue the conversation for her. Thankfully, before things got too dire, Coco had shown up to clear the air.

But Velvet was already sinking under the weight of her newest concern, sinking so fast that she couldn't stop herself from seeking confirmation immediately.

Little did she know that her search for answers would lead her directly into a trap that had been lying in wait for months. Coco was casual and cool in many ways, relaxed and calm in the face of any situation. But if there was one thing that absolutely anyone who knew her could describe as her passion... it was fashion.

It was something every single member of their team had to keep into consideration. If Coco sniffed out a way to get them in some new clothes, she would take it. Velvet had been naive to assume that the constant threat of an impromptu shopping spree would fade away with their new status as a couple.

"Hmmm, yeah." Coco nodded while carefully walking around her "I'm liking the off-shape of the shoulders. I thought it wouldn't exactly go with your hair, but it actually looks pretty damn nice. Can't say much for what they were going for with the chest though."

Velvet glanced down, the top of this particular outfit was definitely designed with bigger assets in mind. The way it was shaped almost urged her to pull it up in fear of it dipping too low. Then again, even as this worry surfaced she looked to Coco. Wouldn't something like that be 'sexy' to her? Before Velvet could answer that question, Coco kneeled beside her and wasted no time reaching out for the fabric that now covered her legs.

"I think we keep the stockings though, they definitely work here."

At that Velvet pouted, "B-but aren't they a little... you know, flashy?"

Coco looked up to her with a smirk "Nah, this?" she gestured up to Velvet's top "This is flashy."

"But this?" Coco gave a soft pat to her calve before gently tugging on the stocking covering it "This is just showing appreciation for some nice legs."

"Ah," Velvet looked away "they aren't... I mean, they're just legs."

"Come on, Vel." Coco placed a hand on her own hip "I might be a hip-girl, but that doesn't mean I can't spot a pair of nice legs if need be."

Velvet tried not to let her attention get drawn to the way Coco gave a little twist of her hips for emphasis, instead focusing on her words in a different way.

"S-so if I had better hips you'd-"

"Let me stop you right there Vel." Coco frowned "If you were the hip girl then where would that leave me? You aren't trying to usurp me or anything, right?"

"No!" Velvet was quick to dismiss the allegation "I-I just want to-"

"Then don't worry about it Vel," Coco cooed, silencing her girlfriend's stammers by rubbing a hand down her leg "I don't want you risking something you have just to get what you don't."

"I don't-" Velvet shook her head "Do you think I'd look better with hips like yours?"

Coco sighed before standing up and taking hold of Velvet's hands "I know this might not be your forte, but how about you tell me?"

Velvet didn't have long to be confused by her meaning before she felt her hands being dragged to Coco's sides. She couldn't help it, with Coco literally in her grasp Velvet felt her mind rapidly descending into dangerous territory. Coupled with how far away from any of the other customers they were, Velvet was trying her hardest not to let her furious blush betray her thoughts.

"See? If you put Coco shaped hips on Velvet shaped legs, the difference in build just takes away from the overall experience." Coco explained, finally releasing her hands and wrapping her arms around Velvet's neck "You get it?"

Velvet nodded furiously, but couldn't bring herself to release her hold on her girlfriend. Coco's slow approach wasn't making it easier, as Velvet was suddenly overcome with the memory of the kiss. The idea of Coco kissing her right here and now in the back of this store was becoming more and more of a likelihood. Velvet didn't know if she was ready, and the sudden shivers wracking her body were the result of that. Was this how Coco planned to dispel Velvet's concerns? She wanted it, she wanted it so badly but... she'd thought she'd have a bit more time to-

"Hey Vel?" Coco's voice snapped Velvet out of her thoughts, and they locked eyes as Coco smirked at her.

After taking some time to swallow the panicked ramblings she knew were fighting to spew out, Velvet managed to piece together a shaky "Y-Yes?"

Soon one of Coco's arms pulled back and she raised another top in front of Velvet's eyes "Mind switching into this for me?"

Velvet's worries skidded to a halt. Had Coco just been reaching past her for a new article of clothing?

Even so, the way they were holding each other, even if it was by accident, just felt so good. She didn't want to pull away, didn't want to take her hands away from Coco. But she did, and took hold of the top offered to her before sighing in disappointment as Coco backed up. Without the distraction she offered, Velvet managed to get a better look at the shirt she'd been offered, noticing immediately how different it was from what she was wearing.

"T-this isn't... in the chest area its so much more..." she wasn't used to fashion like Coco, didn't know how to properly describe it, but Coco seemed to get the gist.

"Well duh, that's not what we're trying to accentuate here, Vel." Coco pointed out before once more waving towards her legs "We're going for shy girl next door, the stockings might be a bit much for that but with your legs there's not a soul on Remnant who'd complain."

"Shy... what?" Velvet asked as she stepped back into the changing room.

"Your vibe." she heard Coco explain from outside "I've always seen you either in your fighting attire or your uniform, so I wasn't really able to see through your overwhelming air of adorableness."

Velvet's cheeks burned at that, but she focused her attention on quickly changing into the new top.

"That's the reason for having a versatile wardrobe, in case you want to present yourself differently." Coco continued "You're usually so averse to the idea that I almost gave up on finding your secondary image, but now that we're here? Well, I'll admit that I'm a bit ashamed I didn't see it sooner."

Velvet finished changing and looked at herself in the mirror. It was true, Velvet wasn't one to keep many outfits to her name. Even Fox had more variety in his attire than her, it just never seemed like anything to focus on. But now that she saw herself in this new getup she could barely recognize herself. It wasn't as flashy as she feared. If anything, it made her look normal. There was no hint of the anxiety prone mess that she was, her worried expression seemed to meld with it so seamlessly.

'Shy Girl Next Door', that was what Coco described this look. Velvet didn't know why it was called that, or what the title entailed, but she couldn't help but admire how normal it made her feel. She felt as if she could just walk to Malts and order a shake on her own with little worry, and if she and Coco were ordering together then-

"Like it?"

Velvet squeaked as she spun around, that's right... Coco was still waiting for her. Despite her emboldened state, Velvet still exited the small room timidly, meeting Coco's gaze several seconds after she came to a stop.

"I-it fits... well." she said, unable to deny the effectiveness of her new set.

"Knew it," Coco gave herself a fist pump of success.

"B-but I don't think you... I'll pay for it! I mean, doing this much for-"

"Vel, that was only one outfit." Coco interrupted before nodding to the pile beside her "We're not stopping until you have a selection."

Velvet's words died in her throat. These clothes weren't even close to the most expensive available, but just how much was Coco planning to get?

Well, an hour later found both girls taking an airbus back to Beacon with two massive packs of clothes beside them. Not all of it was Velvet's, much to her relief, as Coco had spotted a number of clothes she apparently couldn't leave the store without. Even so, the surprising number of options available to her left Velvet in a sort of dazed state for most of the ride. Then again, it was also possible that trying on what had to have been several dozen sets of clothes in only an hour had drained her to the point of exhaustion.

"Should arrive in a few minutes." Coco said as she stepped away from a nearby window and took her seat beside Velvet "You gonna be able to stay awake until we get there or am I gonna have to carry you to our room?"

Velvet looked away "W-wouldn't be able to..." she mumbled "With the the b-bags and everything I mean."

"I dunno." Coco leaned back as she gave their haul a once over "I've carried bags way heavier than those, and you aren't exactly hard to lift, Vel."

Velvet didn't respond immediately, casting her gaze to the ground as she went over their little shopping trip in her head. Coco took note of her silence, and looked over to her with a questioning glance.

"I-I'm sorry..." Velvet managed to say, though she could feel herself tensing up under the admission. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Coco tilting her head in confusion, so she gave a small breath before continuing "You... I made you think I-I thought you d-didn't see me as... you know."

"Pssh, only thing you made me think about was how I could finally get you into some new duds." Coco rolled her eyes.

"But I-"

"Now what can I possibly do to get you to stop worrying about it?" Coco wondered aloud whilst sneaking an arm behind Velvet's back and pulling her close before laying her head on her shoulder. Velvet didn't want Coco to feel bad, she'd already done that enough to-

"Maybe I should do something special tonight." Coco mentioned casually.

Velvet's thoughts were immediately drowned out by that single phrase, the wording replacing her worries with a confusion that burned desperately to be lifted. But before she could stutter out a question regarding that particular wording, Coco lifted her head off of Velvet's shoulder and reached over to turn her face towards her.

"Yeah, that's it." Coco cooed while giving Velvet a wink "I promise you're really gonna enjoy it, Vel."

The need for answers was burning now, and Velvet could feel her already scattered words disintegrating as the images that statement forced to the forefront of her mind wiped away any other potential for coherent reason. What did she mean by that? Why was she looking at her like that? What was she planning on doing?!?

Before Velvet could fight through her stammers, an announcement sounded that they'd reached Beacon's port. She hadn't even noticed. Coco was quick to pull away as if she hadn't nearly melted Velvet's brain out through her ears.

"Awesome," Coco commented as she casually strolled over to their bags "help me out with this Vel. It's gonna take a while to get all this put away before bed."

Velvet could only nod with a mumbled "Uhuh."

She stayed like that the entire walk to their room. Even as she helped Coco finish putting away their new clothes, she was trapped inside the whirlwind of confusion Coco had left in her mind with those statements. Fox and Yatsuhashi had greeted them, and both took note of the Zombie-like way Velvet put away their purchases. Perhaps they expected their teammates to fill them in, but Fox's curiosity could wait no longer.

"So...you gonna tell us what happened to her?" he finally questioned Coco as he watched her finish folding up a coat "She's got this glazed look in her eyes."

Velvet wanted to mention why, but the reason for why was what Coco said. Thinking about what Coco said only caused her own wild confusion to surge forth once more. But as Coco turned around to answer him, Velvet realized that said answer would probably be enough to alleviate her confusion as well. So as she watched her girlfriend smile at Fox, she couldn't stop her rabbit ears from visibly rising so as to not miss anything.

Coco shook her head at his confusion before casually gesturing to him "Fox, maybe someday when you finally kick this loner-complex of yours and nab yourself a gal, you'll finely understand the exploratory nature of being a couple."

Velvet's ears stood tall, no... she couldn't mean what she thought she meant.

"What?" Fox raised an eyebrow "You guys go somewhere besides a clothing store or something?"

"Nah, but on the way back Vel and I decided we'd try some things tonight."

Velvet could feel the stockings in her hands stretching from how tightly she was starting to pull, every sentence out of Coco's mouth just fueled that need for answers writhing inside of her.

"And I know it might seem out of the blue and inconvenient-" Coco continued, Velvet's eyes shot wide open as she recognized the trajectory of that particular sentence.

"-but I was thinking you and Yatsuhashi-"

No.

"-could maybe give us the room for tonight?"

Velvet dropped the stockings with an audible gasp, and she suddenly realized that she was indeed starting to sweat as her confusion was replaced almost entirely by anxiety.

Fox blinked at that "Why would you-" he paused, his face going straight for a moment before he turned and glanced over at Yatsuhashi, who was staring right back at them from his usual meditative position. The two shared what Velvet could only describe as a meaningful glance before Fox turned back with a slightly confused frown.

"Seriously?" he asked Coco.

"Sorry man, I'll make it up to you, promise." Coco massaged the back of her head "Maybe you guys can have a dudes night out, since Vel and I already sorta had a girls night and all."

"If we must," Yatsuhashi stated as he stood up, folding his arms as he settled his gaze on Fox "Over time, I have found myself growing more and more curious as to the true meaning of your persistent lack of presence during the darker times of the-"

He trailed off for a moment, blinked, then tried again "I mean, show me what you've been up to... bro."

With a small groan, Fox threw his hands up in the air "Isn't tomorrow a school day?"

"Never stopped you before." Yatsuhashi noted as he walked over to their door and held it open

"Whatever," Fox shrugged as he took the offer and walked out "Maybe having a tag-along'll be fun."

Yatsuhashi shot Coco a look once Fox had left, "Can I trust that the state of our room will be... presentable upon our return?"

"We aren't tearing the thing apart, Yats." Coco rolled her eyes and waved him off "You'll hardly notice a difference."

With that he gave a small hum before nodding and taking his leave. Every second that door took swinging closed felt like an eternity to Velvet, as she had no doubt in her mind what Coco planned to do once they were alone. She didn't know if she was ready, honestly. This was such a large step taken all of a sudden. They were about to... about to sleep together, weren't they?!

Velvet could feel herself breathing harder, as the reality of her situation sank in. The irony of it wasn't lost on her, earlier today she obsessed over whether or not Coco found her attractive physically, and now she was about to learn firsthand just how much she did. That specific thought gave her pause, was this Coco's true response to that question? Her heartfelt comments in the store had touched Velvet deeply, but did she figure they weren't enough?

Velvet's worry ran rampant. Had she unintentionally guilt-tripped her girlfriend into jumping ahead in their relationship?!? Coco wouldn't be so easy to upset, would she? But Velvet remembered their first date, and how she'd finally gotten glimpses of worry behind Coco's casual smile. All of it had been because of her.

These ruinous thoughts halted momentarily as a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind "Guess whose got the room all to themselves right now?"

"Ah," Velvet swallowed, her mouth suddenly far too dry for her liking "u-us?"

"That's right~" Coco cooed before turning her around.

Velvet yipped, watching in panic as Coco leaned down. Was she going to kiss her again? Would that lead straight into it? Would she be able to stay conscious long enough to realize what was happening?

Coco leaned down before bending low and picking up the stockings Velvet had just dropped "Awe, dropped' em, Vel. I know you aren't too big on these but give them a few runs and I guarantee you'll come around."

Velvet actually breathed a sigh of relief as Coco walked past her to put them away. Why did it feel like this? Why was she so scared? This is what couples do. At least, if her books were anything to go by. So why? Why was she so absolutely terrified of the idea of sleeping with the girl of her dreams? Coco was beautiful and confident, and was always careful with her. By all accounts she should be happy, rife with anticipation.

"Mind if I change first?" Coco nodded towards the bathroom, to which Velvet slowly nodded.

As soon as Coco closed the door behind her, Velvet raised her hands to her face and released a squeal of panic she could no longer restrain. This was actually happening, and she couldn't have been more horrified if she actually tried. It was odd, because she also wanted this to happen so badly at the same time. It was a feeling Velvet was starting to associate with dating Coco, wanting the same thing that frightened her.

She changed as well, using the absence of Fox and Yatsuhashi to her advantage. It was therapeutic in a way, giving her something to do whilst trying to work out exactly how she'd gotten here. But her sleepwear paled in comparison to Coco's, at least in terms of complexity, leaving her with ample time to herself to think as Coco finished in the bathroom. By the time the door opened, Velvet had come to a decision. Even if this was what she wanted, what was bogging it down the most was the idea that she'd somehow forced Coco to skip straight to this. She couldn't let this be their first time together, it just wasn't right and she wouldn't let her crippling nerves stop her from making that clear.

"Alright," Coco stretched after closing the door behind her "looks like you took the initiative. I would've been fine letting you have it after-"

"Coco!" Velvet interrupted

Coco paused mid-stretch, "Yeah?"

"I-I don't want you to take this the wrong way b-but..." Velvet took a deep breath before balling her hands up into fists and declaring "I don't want my first time with you... to be like this!"

Coco looked stunned, staring at Velvet for a good few seconds before tilting her head to the side "Excuse me?"

It was so hard, so hard to keep up her momentum when staring Coco down like this. She just looked so good, even in her regular sleepwear. Given the context, Velvet had fully expected Coco to walk into the room with far more explicit attire. But even so, Velvet had to continue, for both of them.

"Y-You shouldn't have to feel as if you have to s-sleep with me to make me feel better!" Velvet continued "I don't want that!"

Coco gave a slow look around, the expression of abject confusion maximized. She shook her head a bit before looking back at Velvet, as if to confirm she'd actually heard her right.

"It should be special... a-and natural." Velvet murmured, her voice gradually going quieter as she struggled to maintain her flow "N-Not...not-"

"Ah, I see." Coco sighed, rubbing the back of her head

"R-Right," Velvet murmured "maybe after a few more d-dates but-"

"Wasn't planning on going all the way, Vel." Coco pointed out "I'm not the type to hop in bed after a first date."

To say Velvet was shocked would be an understatement.

Coco paused and thought for a moment "Well, I guess technically I am, but not with you. With some people I can see that working but not with us, at least as far as I know."

"Y-You didn't have Yatsuhashi and Fox leave so w-we could," Velvet swallowed again before nodding to their beds "you know?"

"Nope." Coco shrugged before looking away with a snicker "But thinking back on it, seems pretty obvious that that could be mistaken for my original intent."

Velvet didn't hide her relief, letting out a huge breath and letting her shoulders go lax as she struggled not to smile too openly. But that still left her with questions, so she quickly met Coco's gaze again and asked "S-so what was your original intent?"

Coco just smiled as she took Velvet's hands. With a few tugs she tugged her back before falling backwards onto her bed and pulling Velvet on top of her. Immediately the nerves came back, though rivaled only by confusion as Coco's actions clearly contradicted her previous statement.

"I-I thought you said we weren't-"

"You don't have to bang to sleep together, Vel." Coco rolled her eyes before pouting "Actually kinda disheartening to have to point that out."

"So w-we're just going to-"

"Cuddle." Coco winked "It is sort of my preference."

While Velvet was once more relieved by the reaffirmation that she hadn't pressured Coco into intimacy, she was torn by the newfound worry of cuddling. It was just like hugging, right? Hadn't they done it before? Just by being close? Velvet remembered Coco telling her several times that she enjoyed cuddling, but this was new. She'd never thought of cuddling at night, in bed together, not having to actually go any further. Velvet saw the appeal, at this rate they'd fall asleep in each other's arms all tucked in and cozy. The thought of that alone brought Velvet's blush back to full power.

"But... how do I-?" she didn't know how to position herself, didn't know how to hold Coco in this position "I mean, we've done it before but not like this."

"Ah," Coco raised a finger to her lips and mimed silence "this is your reward, remember? So no worrying, come here."

Velvet tightened her lips as she looked down at Coco, who raised her finger and beckoned Velvet down to her. Even though they weren't going to be doing anything more than holding each other, Velvet couldn't help her returning sense of nervousness. Contact with Coco burned in a way that felt so good yet gave her pause.

Her hands shook harder as they approached Coco, who gave a shake of her head at Velvet's hesitation before reaching up. Velvet froze once more as she felt hands on either side of her face, heart rate climbing as Coco brought her lower and lower until their foreheads were literally pressed against each other. If she'd been nervous just by being atop her, nearly pressing together like this felt as if her soul were being bled right out of her.

"Ready for that reward?" Coco asked with smirk

"W-Wasn't this-?"

"The Cuddling? That's for me." Coco admitted as her hands slid up the sides of Velvet's head "For you?"

Velvet nearly collapsed as a feeling of diluted pleasure exploded atop her head, spreading down to her shoulders quickly before continuing down her sides. This feeling, she knew it, the whimper which slipped out of her mouth indicative of how much she missed it. She felt as if every inch of her body was becoming heavier as that wondrous feeling overwrote every other sensation.

Coco was rubbing her ears, and it was absolute ecstasy.

"W-Wait." Velvet tried to say through the vocalizations of pleasure which spewed forth "L-Last time...I-"

"Last time I was scared someone would hear you and get you all embarrassed." Coco commented with a shrug "Guess whose got the room all to themselves right now?"

"U-Us" Velvet noted before flinching as those mystical fingers found a sensitive spot a the base of her ears.

"And who gets to enjoy you cuddling up to them throughout it?"

"You..."

"So who's gonna stop worrying and just enjoy themselves?"

"M-M-Me..." Velvet said before she could hold herself up no longer, collapsing atop Coco and slipping her arms under her before pulling herself as close to that feeling of bliss as possible. She couldn't stop the moans from seeping from her throat. It didn't make sense, it felt too good to make sense. Even her books couldn't describe this joy radiating from her ears. Thoughts of the first time the surprisingly pleasant feeling of Coco's fingertips graced her rabbit ears came back, when she'd put them both in an awkward position because she hadn't been able to resist the feeling.

Though her mind tried to bring it to the forefront and remind her just how badly this had gone last time, those melted away under the ocean of honey bread and butter which Velvet was swimming through. She simply didn't have the capacity for worrying whilst Coco was treating her to such ecstasy, so she nuzzled against her girlfriend and held on tighter as the sensations followed her into her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I actually surprised myself by getting a similar word-count to the previous chapter, as I was almost positive that that one was bloated purely because I needed to set this one up. I even trimmed down a few portions purely because I couldn't believe it had turned out this long.
> 
> Either way, I finally followed through on those cuddle teasers sprinkled in before. I actually didn't think I'd use them for anything, as they were initially just a nice tidbit of information I enjoyed leaving. But since the story ended up longer than expected, I suppose you could say that Chekhov's Gun is gonna be used far more often.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review or comment if you are so inclined to do. Things you enjoyed about it? Things you hated about it? Any ways you feel I could improve? Expectations for the next chapter? Follow or Favorite at your leisure and I will see you all in the next installment of Trying Chocolate.


	9. Kissing Queries

Some couples have certain little... things...that they have. Maybe its a saying or a routine, something that close friends might have together, sort of like a handshake.

"...Velvet?"

Coco had some of these in her previous relationships, like that weird way of holding hands that one guy always did or the greeting make out session.

"Vel... you still with me?"

Not every couple needs a trait like this, nor do they gotta be particularly special, Coco had just gotten used to taking note of them.

"Velvet? Coco speaking right here, you get me?"

Even so, ever since getting used to dating Velvet, Coco had been a bit curious if they'd develop something like that. But ever since that night, Coco was positive that she had her answer. For where other couples might have certain ways of holding each other or getting mushy...

They had the Rub and Cud.

Coco made an unsatisfied face as she thought that title out loud "Rub and Cud?"

That made Velvet tilt her head up a bit to look at her "Hn?"

"Just trying to come up with a name for this thing we got here." Coco explained as she worked her thumbs a bit harder into the base of both of Velvet's rabbit ears. Another low moan started up before Velvet buried her face into Coco's shoulder to muffle it, her arms tightening her hold on Coco even more.

"Yeah, I was also considering the hug and tug at one point." Coco said, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of Velvet nuzzling into her "But something about that seemed a bit too sexual to fit."

Not to mention that she was definitely not tugging on Velvet's ears, far from it. It wasn't like the Rub and Cud was much better, but at least it _was_ better... wasn't it?

Lines of thought like this were becoming the norm for Coco every time she and Velvet met up like this between certain classes. Ever since her little surprise night, Velvet had been growing more and more accustomed to asking for a little ear rubbing in exchange for some standing cuddles. Coco was more than happy to accept that transaction on the condition they didn't turn into one of those affectionate couples that just couldn't help but draw attention. She'd been on both sides of that before, and could easily say that both weren't enjoyable in hindsight. But since Velvet just couldn't hold back her extremely suggestive vocalizations, it meant sneaking around in dark hallways or empty classes just to get their respective physical fixings.

It wasn't like Coco was new to sneaking around. Her time being overly touchy-feely in open was actually in one of her earlier relationships, so she actually had quite a bit of experience in this field. Which of course meant it was up to her to pull back first, as Velvet still couldn't shake the tendency of getting lost in dreamland whenever they did this. But it also gave her ample opportunity to find just the right way to end it, as Velvet still gave those heart-breaking kicked puppy noises when they stopped.

It had only been about two days of this, but in that time she'd managed to try head-patting, nuzzling, even transitioning to rubbing her shoulders or back. But time and time again she just got hit with that semi-truck of guilt that only Velvet could manage leveling against her with those whines.

So once more she soldiered on as she brought her hands down from those furry appendages and rubbed Velvet's shoulders as those whines reached her once more.

"Sorry Vel, you know the drill." Coco cooed to her as the whines died down into a miffed little sigh.

"Already?" Velvet asked "Last class just ended."

"We've been here for almost ten minutes, Vel." Coco stated "As much as I love you getting all cuddly with me, its not exactly worth risking grades for."

Velvet reluctantly pulled away, folding her arms as she watched Coco walk across the room to the door and peak outside. As expected, there weren't many students walking around in the hall. Most would've made it to their next classes already. It should be easy for them to slip out into them without looking too conspicuous.

"You said..."

Coco glanced back to Velvet, who took a moment to meet her gaze before continuing "You said not to worry about it but..." Velvet paused for a moment, reaching up to nip at her own thumb for a moment before asking "W-what's it like?"

Coco blinked for a moment, closing the door fully before turning to face her "What's what like?"

"You know..." Velvet's blush spread fast "Like, k-kissing and stuff."

Honestly, at this point Coco knew she should expect Velvet to bombard her with sudden questions like that, but it still felt off. Even so, she wasted no time in smirking, "Planning on surprising me sometime soon, Vel?"

Velvet went wide-eyed "N-No, I just... We've already gone on a date and s-slept together so-"

"Not the exact way I'd phrase that, but go on." Coco noted

"S-So, its only natural that we'd... you know." Velvet tapped her fingers together anxiously "Its just, I know how its supposed to work. But you-!"

"Have actually done it, I get it." Coco nodded before shrugging "There's not exactly much I could tell you, Vel. You just find a good angle and press your lips together."

"B-but then after... after that, what do I-?"

"We're just talking kisses here Velvet." Coco pointed out "If you want go into detail about making out with tongue and stuff, then you can start getting complicated. But for just a kiss there's no rule book."

Velvet didn't seem satisfied with that answer, so Coco took a quick glance at a nearby clock on the wall before walking over "Okay, let's see you pucker."

"What?" Velvet asked

"First step of a good kiss is puckering up, isn't it?" Coco folded her arms "You just pucker up, lean in and boom, nice and easy kiss. So let's see it."

Velvet looked away for a moment with a nervous little grumble before closing her eyes and pressing her lips together.

"See, you got it-"

And then she puffed up.

Coco had to slam her hand over her own mouth, too surprised by her girlfriend's sudden imitation of a blow fish to even finish her sentence. It wasn't fair, this innocent attempt at puckering up shouldn't be so easy to laugh at. It couldn't be, so why was it!?

She couldn't hold back for too long, so she quickly raised two fingers and poked Velvet's puffed up cheeks simultaneously. Velvet's eyes snapped open as Coco pressed until she finally released her breath.

"You've kissed family members on the cheeks before, right?" Coco asked as she placed her hands on her hips

"Of course." Velvet mumbled after a bit

"Exactly like that?"

"Yes."

Coco nodded before placing a finger to her chin and giving a small hum. Why, Velvet's Family? Why wouldn't you point out how it looks? But Coco already knew why, that blow fish pucker is just too adorably hilarious. But that meant Velvet had even less reference than expected. Did none of her books accurately portray the ease of just pressing your lips against someone else's? Was it just so easy that writers forewent describing it? Coco didn't know romance books, she had no way to tell if they were to blame for this or not.

"Okay," Coco smiled "my turn."

"Your wha-?" Velvet began only for her words to die as Coco's hands found her shoulders and the distance between them rapidly decreased "W-Wait! I'm not read-"

Coco planted a half-second kiss on Velvet's cheek, but it was more than enough to turn Velvet's words into a low squeal of joy. But as she pulled away and watched her girlfriend desperately try to recover, Coco wondered if it would actually be safe for Velvet to try full on mouth-to-mouth contact yet. With reactions like this, she might spontaneously combust or something. A thought for another time, as they were really cutting it close with time now.

Once Velvet had steadied her breathing, Coco led her out into the hall where she immediately clung to her side. That was another thing these little alone times had brought, Velvet had gotten extremely physical. Where she would one flinch or shiver under Coco's touch, now she was actively seeking it out with a consistency Coco would never have expected a week ago. And she didn't seem to notice much, or at least didn't mention it. Coco wouldn't push her, this kinda progress was actually staggering in terms of Velvet time. Then again, the other students probably had a hand in developing the habit.

Ever since word got around about them, Coco was aware that there would occasionally be eyes on them. She knew this song and dance, she'd notice more glances in her previous relationships as well. She was a popular gal, and the grapevine had a way of dramatizing whatever she did. And while she might be perfectly capable of thriving under extra attention, the same couldn't exactly be said for Velvet. She tried to hide it, of course, but Coco could tell Velvet was shielding herself with her presence. It was subtle for sure, Coco was actually surprised at how well Velvet managed to mask her discomfort. But that was early on, and Coco could tell that, slowly but surely, she was starting to acclimate.

But it would seem Velvet hadn't been satisfied with that conversation. Several hours later after classes were over and the two had found themselves once more fiddling with their weapons in the workshop, Coco noticed Velvet's hands suddenly pause and hover over the disassembled lens of her camera.

Coco set down a wrench and leaned against her partially open minigun, "Something on your mind?"

Velvet squeaked and nearly dropped the lens, but after a few seconds of embarrassed blushing she finally said, "You've kissed a lot...right?"

"Well Vel, I wouldn't want to brag or anything," Coco smirked as she set down the wrench "but yes, definitely yes. Like... all of the yes."

"So... how were they? Y-you're previous boyfriends I mean..."

"Oh?" Coco cooed as she leaned closer with a sly smirk "Getting a little curious about how Coco works her magic?"

"No!" Velvet shook her head desperately "I just... w-would like to know."

Coco shrugged with a casual shake of her head "I don't know exactly how to rank that type of thing Velvet. Some people like slow and tender types of kisses and some just like to get fast and passionate. Once you make contact the only real difference is speed except..."

Velvet took note of the way Coco paused, her ears raising a bit as she asked, "Except what?"

Coco raised a hand to her chin as she thought "Well, I guess there are some outliers," she said before noticing Velvet's expression and smiling "Okay, so there was this one guy who had this really crazy hole he had built into his tongue. Idiot that I was, I thought it looked cool enough to get one for myself until I realized how much of a nightmare eating would be. He said it was worth it, though, so to each their own I guess."

"And..?" Velvet prodded, gesturing to her own mouth for emphasis

"Yeah, so when he and I kissed it was the standard affair until..." Coco paused for a moment, concentrating on the memory "Well, he did this thing with his tongue that, to this day, I am not fully capable of explaining. I could tell something was happening, but I don't have a proper assembly of words to describe it to another person."

Coco could see that Velvet seemed more confused by her retelling than satisfied and, truthfully, Coco found that remembering that particular kiss brought back the same confusion she felt back then. But if she thought too hard about it she'd probably spend the rest of their time at Workshop pondering, so she pointed to Velvet "So unless you've got some crazy modifications like that in your mouth, you'll be fine... you don't have any of those do-"

"No!" Velvet exclaimed " I just... I mean, was it good?"

"It was honestly too confusing to tell." Coco stated

Velvet let the topic die down then, and the two continued working on their weapons. For the rest of their time in the workshop, Coco waited in anticipation for the follow-up. She knew it was coming, Velvet seemed far too curious about kissing to leave it at that. Low and behold, they actually made it out of the workshop and halfway to the training hall before Coco's intuition proved itself correct.

"Did... any others stand out?" Velvet finally asked, prompting Coco to stop and look back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You want to just try it now?" she asked, taking a small amount of humor in the immediate wide-eyed panic which bloomed across Velvet's features.

"What!?" she gasped while taking a step back, looking away and giving a nervous smile "I don't... why would you ask? It's not... I mean it'll happen naturally so-"

"Yeah, but I get this sneaking suspicion that you're gonna run yourself ragged thinking about it." Coco shrugged "So we could just... you know?"

Velvet took a deep breath to compose herself before meeting Coco's gaze again "Sorry... I know I'm worrying a lot... I just want to make sure this is special." she folded her arms tightly across her chest "It's my f-first kiss after all."

Coco gave a hum as she put her hands on her hips "Nah, I get it Vel." she nodded before looking up with a chuckle "Wouldn't want it to turn out like my first kiss."

Shifting her eyes back to Velvet she confirmed that her girlfriend's ears had heightened in a tell-tale sign of interest, and her mouth opened to issue forth the question she knew was coming.

"What was your first kiss like, Coco?"

Letting her arms fall back down to her sides, Coco gave a small laugh before rubbing the back of her neck "Geez, well it's not my proudest memory."

"Why?" Velvet asked, raising a hand in concern "Was it bad?"

"Oh it wasn't bad..." Coco looked away for a moment and smirked "Not for me at least. No, it was a good kiss, just... back then I was far more..."

"Shy?"

"No, more like the complete opposite of that."

"Enthusiastic?" Velvet tried again

"Aggressively enthusiastic," Coco said with a shake of her head "My first kiss was quick and hungry, Vel. Like, I was in there immediately, no holds barred. Pretty much how most of my early relationships went. Think I might've actually scared the guy with how into it I was."

"Why would he be scared of kissing you? You guys were dating...right?"

Coco shook her head "We were just party pals, Vel. I'm sure we were into each other, but that was pretty much the first time we got any kind of intimate. So he was pretty ill-prepared."

"O-Oh." Velvet said, her cheeks blatantly reddening at the thought.

It wasn't a bad kiss by any stretch of the imagination, and Coco never really could say that it was something to regret. Sure, she'd done it back when she was more into just doing whatever she wanted, but rushing into her first kiss couldn't even compare to the more ridiculous stuff she got into back then. But what it didn't do was stand out in any way. It was her first, but she never really thought of it like that until far later. It was just one of the many kisses she had, and she was okay with that.

Yet there was no way at all that Velvet would be satisfied with a kiss like that. Coco knew for a fact that it had to be a damn good kiss, at least by Velvet standards. So she figured that she might as well get to work on making their first kiss just as memorable as the first date, and the first thing to deal with would have to be that damn puffer fish routine.

They made it to the training room and set their weapons on a bench next to each other. Velvet began looking through her camera to check her selection of weapons to use, but Coco patted her on the shoulder and said "Nuh-uh, come on."

She took several steps away before turning to find Velvet looking at her with confusion. Coco gestured for her to come over, and her girlfriend finally drew close.

"How are we gonna test our weapons without... weapons?" Velvet looked back to the bench.

"We aren't getting there just yet Vel, we got something else to practice first." Coco said with a smile "I want you to kiss me."

Just like before, Velvet's confusion was overwritten by blatant panic, but Coco raised a hand "Not on the lips." she said before tilting her head to the side and tapping a finger to the side of her face "Ya just gotta plant one right here."

"Uh..." Velvet focused on the spot, mumbling in distress "B-But... are you sure?"

"I've been showing those cheeks of yours quite a bit of loving since the first date." Coco pointed out with a wink "If we're gonna get to some full on contact we might as well cover the rest of the bases, right? And I don't seem to recall you gracing mine with those lips of yours, do you?"

"N-no, you're right." Velvet conceded "Just... just give me a second."

Coco gave her ten, but eventually Velvet drew close. Coco once more tilted her head to the side to give her ample space, letting her girlfriend move at her own pace as she closed her eyes and leaned in. After this there shouldn't be as much concern over the first kiss. As soon as Velvet was comfortable with this, the prospect of just angling their heads a bit differently for some genuine mouth-to-mouth interaction should be simple.

But before Coco could give herself a mental pat on the back, she noticed Velvet puffing up once again. Coco wasted no time in bringing her fingers to Velvet's cheeks, causing her girlfriend's eyes to snap open as the wind was forced from her mouth. Once Coco no longer had to fight back tiny giggles, she patted Velvet on the cheek and gave her another wink, "Stick with this from now on, eh Vel? You'll thank me later."

Velvet looked a bit confused for a moment before simply nodding. Once Coco had confirmation she lowered her arms and allowed Velvet to continue her approach. Any second now she could rest easy about this whole Kiss confusion Velvet seemed to be suffering from.

Any second now...

Despite how close Velvet was to her, Coco took note that Velvet seemed extremely hesitant to move any closer, her eyes looking over the side of Coco's face as if to find a better direction to approach. Once more Coco was humored by Velvet's excessive concern, but figured this could be remedied easily just by choosing the path of least resistance. So she merely leaned forward a bit and pressed her cheek to Velvet's hesitant lips, causing a startled squeak to rise from Velvet's throat before that devolved into a pleased hum.

It was undoubtedly a bit clumsy, but Coco was prepared for that. Yet even with her odd angles, Velvet's kiss felt impressively warm. Or was it that it was making Coco feel warm?

Either way it felt pretty nice after Velvet shifted a bit.

"See?" Coco cooed "Nothing to be afraid of, right?"

Velvet didn't answer, instead Coco felt her arms wrapping around her back. Velvet pulled back a bit, making Coco think that she was trying to switch to the old fashioned Rub and Cud.

Yet again that title brought a frown to Coco's face, she'd definitely have to find another name for that.

But before she could have another deep delve into possible titles, Velvet pulled away again. But before Coco could ask how it felt, Velvet pressed another kiss to the side of her face. And then she did it again, and soon Velvet was desperately pressing peck after peck against her.

"Velvet?" Coco asked, once more having to hold back giggles "That feels pretty ticklish, ya know?

Velvet didn't seem to hear her, continuing to lay down the oral beat-down against Coco's undefended face. Coco wasn't complaining, far from it. But it was around kiss thirteen when she realized that she hadn't felt Velvet's breath against her once during the entire ordeal.

"Velvet?" Coco said again, this time releasing several giggles as her girlfriend continued her assault "You gotta breathe Velvet, just-"

Coco was interrupted by yet another kiss, giving another chuckle as she heard the telltale whine of Velvet realizing that she'd need to pause before she could continue.

So she pulled back and finally took in some air, "Sorry! I-!" Velvet shook her head a bit "Sorry, sorry... I didn't want..."

"S'okay." Coco said with a shrug "I'm not gonna get mad at you for kissing me, Velvet. Sorta what I was hoping to happen."

"But I..." Velvet caught herself for a moment before steadying her breath "It feels good... kissing you makes me really...really happy."

Now it was Coco's turn to go red in the face, "Guess ya know why I love doing it so much."

Velvet nodded before leaning back in to go for another round.

And so continued the dichotomy of Velvet that Coco was becoming increasingly aware of over time, the fact that Velvet was probably the most excessively worried person she'd ever met, yet at the same time could be pretty needy in the physical department. Coco wasn't dumb, she knew it was probably because of Velvet's rampant anxiety keeping her from exploring these types of things before, but that didn't stop her from being a little surprised every time it happened.

If anything it only added another layer to Velvet's impenetrable aura of cuteness. Coco could practically feel her heart melting into a sloppy puddle somewhere between her liver and kidneys.

So distracted was she that when Velvet pulled away the second time she made the error of assuming she was done, and turned to ask if she was ready to actually try out the modifications to their weapons. But Velvet had also leaned in for yet another go. If Coco was just a bit taller, perhaps the end result would've been an accidental kiss which she knew Velvet would never forgive herself for. But the tides of probability seemed to sway in their favor that day, from the way Coco was looking at it at least.

But when Velvet's eyes snapped open to find she'd trapped her girlfriend's nose in her lips, she was nowhere near as passive.

Coco couldn't help but smirk, "So... this is what you were after all along, eh?"

Velvet released her and pulled back immediately, waving her hands defensively "No, wait! I just missed a-and-!"

"It's alright Vel, I'm not exactly the type of gal to judge." Coco said with a snicker as she held her arms to her sides "I'll try anything once."

If Velvet could heat up anymore, Coco knew for a fact she'd be emitting steam. With a panicked look around, Velvet settled her gaze on their weapons, "T-test! We have to test these out! B-Before we spend too much time with... with..."

She looked back to Coco, who responded by lowering her glasses and dishing out a suggestive wink, "We can always try 'em tomorrow if you really want to practice something else, hon."

The embarrassed squeal Velvet released once more reminded Coco why her teasing couldn't nor shouldn't ever stop.

But Velvet shook her head "W-we only have so much time each day..." she muttered while picking up her camera "shouldn't g-go off schedule."

With a roll of her eyes Coco walked over as well, "Whatever you say, Vel."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In celebration of Valentine's Day, chapter nine is finally here.
> 
> It took way longer than any other chapter, mostly due to new year stuff getting in the way. Hopefully the Chapter was worth the wait, as I 'm fairly certain I can continue updating in a more regular fashion. Once more it was supposed to be longer and a bit more diverse, but I figured this fit the Valentine's Day theme just a bit more.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review or comment if you are so inclined to do. Things you enjoyed about it? Things you hated about it? Any ways you feel I could improve? Expectations for the next chapter? Follow or Favorite at your leisure and I will see you all in the next installment of Trying Chocolate.


	10. Problematic Ploys

Deep breaths, happy faces, and lots and lots of hugs.

As Velvet and her Team got ready for their classes, she found that formula absolutely necessary. Without it she'd just end up staring at Coco out of the corner of her eye. And why wouldn't she? Beyond the fact that Coco's photogenic nature meant even right out of bed Velvet felt as though she was watching a hair commercial, yesterday they'd... well, Coco had made her...

Velvet's cheeks warmed up at the thought, and once more she took deep breaths before straightening her uniform more. Coco made them kiss yesterday, but it wasn't on the lips! Velvet had pecked at her, and it had been absolutely magical. She wasn't even able to focus on their training afterwards since she kept thinking about what going further would feel like. Even though Coco had offered, Velvet knew they couldn't just jump straight to real kissing. It... it was supposed to be for the second date. Velvet had been hesitant to trust in the words of her books ever since the initial ear-problem, but she had motivation beyond them for this specifically.

More than just stories, Velvet often heard people talk about how their first kisses went. Even with someone like Coco, Velvet couldn't rush it... no matter how much she wanted to. In fact, the only person she knew who mentioned having a less-than stellar first kiss was Coco herself. If anything, that meant Velvet had to make theirs even better. If Coco didn't have an amazing first kiss, then Velvet was more than willing to give her's to make up for it. That very idea made Velvet warm up again, the idea that their first kiss could be so good that Coco could look back on it in place of her own with fondness.

And what better time for such an experience than their second date?

But since Velvet set up the first one, should she wait for Coco to set up the second?

That though had consumed her throughout the day, whether she should wait for Coco to indicate a second date or set it up herself. She's never heard of some kind of rule where they had to go back and forth, but she didn't want to seem pushy. It was all because Coco had shown her just how good it felt to kiss someone she loved, now she couldn't help but want to go further. She'd found herself staring at Coco's lips through most of their classes together for this specific reason. They weren't overly plump or anything, but whenever Coco turned to her and they shifted into a smirk which oozed confidence, they looked like the most inviting things in the world.

Velvet told herself over and over that that first kiss would feel even better as long as it was properly timed, not helping this was the fact that Coco didn't seem like she'd mind if they just went ahead and locked-lips at any time. So Velvet was torn, only able to properly think about this once she was alone in Dr. Oobleck's class. In between her regular notes she wrote down the pros and cons of simply setting up their second date herself to get to the kiss quicker.

She went through the points she already had. At first she though this idea would work since she'd gone through a fair amount of points on both sides. However, when she reviewed her list and found that in the 'Pros' section she'd merely written _Kissing Coco_ six times, she threw out that idea in its entirety.

It was official, she'd need some outside help with this.

What were her options? The most obvious would be the rest of her team. Well, Coco was the subject of discussion and Fox was admittedly poor in terms of emotional stuff... so her only actual option there was Yatsuhashi. Once more Velvet was forced to realize she had nowhere near enough options when it came to topics like these. Despite Coco's best efforts, there just weren't many students in Beacon Velvet felt confident talking with about personal stuff.

That thought led to her sighing as Oobleck dismissed the class and she paused near the doorway as the Doctor sped out like he usually did. She leaned against it for a moment, once more trying to think over the pitifully small list of friends she had when an agitated voice spoke up behind her.

"Move it."

Immediately her rabbit ears stood tall as she stepped out of the classroom and slid to the side as Cardin stomped by. She tried not to act too perturbed by his presence, forcing her eyes to the floor as he continued on his way. Only once he was gone did Velvet release the breath she didn't realize she was holding. As she watched him disappear down the hall, Velvet couldn't help but marvel at how much better things had gotten with him. Back before the confrontation with the rest of her team, Cardin would've had no issue taking the time to shove her out of his way.

It was the little things.

"You okay?"

Velvet's head snapped to the side to find Yatsuhashi standing beside her, following her gaze. She gave a small yelp at his sudden appearance, absolutely positive that he wasn't there a few seconds ago. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction, only for her to quickly wave her her hands in front of her.

"Sorry! Sorry Yats, I just... you k-kinda snuck up on me." she stuttered before glancing back to find Cardin gone "No, it's all good but... I guess I was a little distracted."

Yatsuhashi gave a low hum before gesturing down the hall.

Moments later the two found themselves on one of the paths between school buildings, with Velvet reclining on a bench whilst trying to explain her recent troubles.

"-and I know that she'd be okay with it, but I feel as though I need to make our first kiss really really special, you know?"

"Hm."

"And I'm sick of making her have to talk me down whenever I start worrying about something! I-I was so happy when she reassured me at first but... I feel like I'm annoying her."

"Hm."

"I mean, wouldn't you feel annoyed if your girlfriend kept making you have to talk her down? That sounds pretty annoying to me!" she sat up and looked to her Partner, meditating in the grass not far away.

Yatsuhashi broke his carefully maintained position to look back at her, "I must admit to not feeling adequate enough to properly answer such a question due to to lack of insight."

Velvet deflated, leaning back in her seat and staring up at the sky as Yatsuhashi resumed meditating, "I'm sorry for dumping all of that on you, big guy. I don't really have enough friends I feel like going to with this type of thing. I'm sure Coco'd have no problem finding legions of people she could talk things over with."

"You are not Coco." Yatsuhashi stated "I'm positive that with enough forward-thinking, you shall discover a method of handling such issues in your own manner without compromising-"

He paused for a moment before repeating himself, "You'll find a way."

"Easy for you to say, Yats." Velvet leaned up again "You never let anything-"

Velvet's words died as she spotted a squirrel which had perched itself atop his head. Yatsuhashi still maintained his meditative sit, seemingly unfazed by the critter loudly cracking open a shelled nut above him.

"Y-Yats?"

"If you intend to imply that I let nothing affect me, I assure you that you are mistaken." he stated without even acknowledging the animal on his head

"B-But-"

"I am merely fluent in the maintenance of my own composure." he continued "Believe me when I say that I have many problems of relatively low importance that I am unable to simply let go of-"

"There's a s-squirrel..." Velvet tried again

"-the key difference being that I was always led to believe that a properly stabilized emotional response will allow a solution to be more effectively constructed-"

"...right on your head..." she raised a finger to point.

"-giving me incentive to stifle whatever immediate reaction may come to mind in the name of a well-crafted resolution."

Once Yatsuhashi finally stopped speaking, Velvet waited several seconds more before raising her finger back towards the squirrel and trying once more to bring his attention to it. Before a single syllable even left her mouth, a large bird dived towards the Squirrel and snatched it right off his head before sailing off into the distance.

Velvet blinked once, then again, then a few more times before mumbling, "It was just...It was eating just a second-"

"Or in Coco's terms," Yatsuhashi looked back at her "I'm keeping my... _Cool_."

Velvet sighed, dropping the squirrel issue in favor of twiddling her thumbs together in thought, "Even so, there's no way I could do something like that..."

Just as she was trailing off, she felt a vibration coming from her pocket. Pulling out her scroll, she looked over the caller ID before sitting up straight and snapping her eyes open.

"H-Hey, Coco!" Velvet answered, having not prepared for her girlfriend's call

"Sup Vel?" Coco asked casually over the sound of footsteps

"U-Um, nothing. Just hanging out with Yats." Velvet explained "Um, y-you called for something?"

"Oh? Can I not call up my GF for some mid-day sweet nothings?" Coco cooed before giving a short laugh "Nah, just wanted to know if you wanted to do something tomorrow night?"

Velvet bit back a gasp, giving a deep breath before asking "And by _something_ , you mean?"

"Well I guess you could call it a date, I heard about this really good ice cream stall just by that park in east-"

Coco paused as barely restrained squealing reached her, "Vel? You okay over there?"

Velvet had to catch herself, shaking her head ferociously before replying "Y-yes! Ice cream, tomorrow! Ice cream date! A date for ice cream. I-I'd love that."

"Sweet, I gotta go get something right now, but how about you and I hash it out a little more later?"

"Y-yes!"

"Cool, see ya hon."

The moment the call ended Velvet shot off the bench and finally released the deep breaths she'd been holding.

"And so the hands of fate swing in your favor today." Yatsuhashi noted

"I-I have to put together an outfit!" Velvet finally stated

"Isn't the date tomorrow? And just for ice cream?" Yatsuhashi looked back to find that Velvet had already sped off.

The moment she was back inside the halls of Beacon, Velvet tried remembering which way led to the dorms. She knew Yatsuhashi was right, that she shouldn't get so flustered by a little night out for sweets, but it was more than that. Coco was asking her out this time, meaning she had to bring one-hundred and ten percent. She felt that nothing would make their first kiss better than wearing a grand assortment of the clothes Coco herself had gotten for her. Velvet could see it now, hand in hand strolling through the park with some sweet treats. They'd pause near a pond as Coco noticed she had a bit of ice cream on the side of her mouth and then lean in to clear-

Velvet was snapped out of her fantasy by voices coming from around a corner that she was approaching. She recognized those voices, and immediately skidded to a stop before pressing herself against the wall. Sure enough, two of Coco's fans finished descending a set of stairs, Dio and Briz if memory served well. Velvet held her breath as they continued down another hall, sighing in relief once they turned a corner.

She felt a bit ashamed to be hiding from Coco's fans of all people, but she wasn't sure if she was prepared to get involved with a group so... so loud. Plus their first interaction had been less than stellar, even if Coco managed to smooth things over in the end. Velvet knew she'd have to interact with them eventually. Who knew? Maybe they'd be just the people she needed to talk with over Coco-related issues, that way she wouldn't have to throw everything Yatsuhashi's way. Maybe that was just hopeful dreaming, but now that they were gone she could-

"Well, look who we find cowering today."

Velvet spun around to find Dove leaning against the wall not too far behind her. But even with the distance, she threw herself away, much to his humor.

"Easy there, rabbit girl." he raised his hands to his sides "You go hopping and scampering like that and I'd feel inclined to throw a carrot your way. I thought your kind wanted to break stereotypes?"

"Dove?" Sky leaned out from behind him before casting a worried look around.

"In a second." Dove waved him off

"I-" Velvet shook her head before trying to stand tall "I wasn't hopping.. You just snuck up on-"

"Oh? So it means something different to you, got it." he threw her a big thumbs up before placing his hands on his hips and looking around as he approached "Doesn't matter, here I was just voicing a bit of confusion... you and that other girl have been so glued to the hip lately that finding one of you on your own is pretty damn difficult."

Velvet frowned, "Well... I don't believe that that's any of your business," she glanced back to the stairs "so if you could just-"

"Oh I know that," Dove shrugged "I just don't care."

"Dove!" Sky hissed "We're supposed to be picking up Russel's order."

"Yeah, you guys seem busy." Velvet would take anything to get out of this conversation, so she gestured to the stairs "So how about I..."

"Oh Russel's waited a week, he can wait another few minutes." Dove declared before waving towards Velvet "Besides, shouldn't classmates be curious about their friends?"

That gave Velvet pause, "Friends?"

"Of course, we're people who know each other deeply and spend a higher than ordinary amount of time in each other's presence. Isn't that the literal definition of friends?"

Velvet narrowed her gaze "I-I think you left out the affection or feeling of companionship."

Dove tilted his head to the side with a smirk, "Did I? How strange."

Realizing she wouldn't be able to just talk her way out of it, Velvety consigned herself to her fate and looked away "What do you want, Dove? I saw you trying to mess with Coco a few days ago outside the training room, s-so don't think I'll let you try using me as some kind of pawn against her!"

"Must you really have such exaggerated opinions of me?" he raised an eyebrow before leaning back "I've just been curious lately as to how someone like you managed to bag a dime like her. It's not really consistent."

"Seriously?" Sky sighed "That's why we're here?"

"I mean look at her Sky!" Dove exclaimed before leaning back towards Velvet "I'm sure you yourself have noticed some immense disparity here. It almost seems comical! As you've seen, Coco's not really adamant to explain why she'd think you'd be even somewhat of a good lover, so here I am asking you."

It stung, Velvet swallowed, ignoring how much his words stung. She didn't have to put up with it, she knew that Coco loved her!

"I... Coco's nowhere near as shallow as you!" she replied "She cares about me, and I care about her. T-that should be more than enough!"

"You know when you stutter like that," Dove tilted his head to the side "it makes everything you say lack conviction."

"Well..."

"It makes it seem like you don't really believe that, like you aren't actually anywhere near good enough for a nice piece like her." Dove leaned forward a bit and gave her another once over "But that's not gonna stop you from taking advantage, am I right?"

Velvet backed up, uncomfortable with just how close Dove was getting "What do you mean-?"

"Oh well," he gave a small hum before smirking "It's just that if I were an underwhelming faunus perfectly aware of my lack of redeeming qualities I'd latch onto whoever felt bad enough to offer some pity and leech off of their success as much as possible."

"I'm not-! I would never-!"

"And that would be the exact same thing that I would say if someone finally called me out on my bullshit and threatened my easy ticket." he shrugged "But hey, it's not like I've much of a good rep around here. So even if ya came clean right here and now there's not much I could do about it."

"There's nothing to come clean about! You just-! Just-! I'm not-!"

"Dove!" Sky shouted "Can we get back to it now?"

"I'm in the middle of some very important questioning, Sky." Dove replied before taking another step forward "I'd hate if we left Coco with someone who'd try to use her so selfishly."

"Selfish?" Velvet reared back

"Bronzewing!"

All three of them paused and turned back to find that down the hall from them stood an extremely irate Coco. Dove recovered first, laughing and waving in greeting.

"Coco! What a _surprise_." he said as he turned to face her "Who would've thought we'd run into each other like this a second time? Although, I get the feeling you and the rabbit girl were reversed."

Velvet took a moment to shake off all of Dove's accusations before calling out to her, "Coco! Look, he was-!"

But Coco raised her pointer finger to her own lips and mimed a request for silence as she began approaching, "Hon, I'm going have to ask you to give me a minute."

The low tone she maintained throughout that demand urged Velvet to follow it.

Dove cooed, "Oh, seems like you're really rearing to go this time. Maybe overheard our little discussion? Or perhaps something _else_ has put you in a bad mood?"

Velvet noted the way he stretched that word, but she couldn't draw her attention away from the furious manner with which Coco approached.

"Oh it put me in a bad mood, alright." Coco admitted "And I just can't believe you."

Sky nervously glanced between them for a second before turning to Dove, "What's she talking about? What'd you do?"

"Well why not ask her?" Dove shrugged at him before turning back to Coco "Go on then, what do you think that I-?"

He didn't get to finish, as Coco's fist sent him flying back to the ground midway through his next word. Velvet yelped a bit at the suddenness, but still found herself shifting out of the way as Coco released a long breath before whipping her sunglasses off and glaring down at him.

"You! What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded with an intensity Velvet wasn't used to seeing.

"Well, besides the sore jaw." Dove leaned back up as he massaged the side of his face "I'd have to say it's my honest nature."

"Don't screw with me, Dove! I saw what you did to her locker! The things that you wrote were absolutely disgusting!"

And at that moment Velvet saw it, a single second where Dove's cocky smile was replaced with confusion, "Wait what?"

"Dude, seriously? We can't go to Cardin with a Vandalism charge!" Sky shouted "The hell were you thinking!?"

"But I didn't-" once more Dove was interrupted as Coco hauled him off the ground.

"Oh you won't have to worry about charges." she stated "Because you're gonna march your ass to the lockers right this goddamned second and Clean. Up. Everything."

"Seriously though, Coco," Dove raised his hands to his sides "it wasn't-"

"And then!" she continued as she drew him closer and tightened her glare "We're not gonna have any trouble from you ever again! Do I make myself clear?"

"But..." Dove trailed off for a moment, going silent for several seconds as he glanced to the side at Velvet. His gaze went off for a moment before Coco shook him.

"I said, Do I make myself clear?" she repeated, her grip on him visibly tightening as a sudden look of happiness spread across his face "Dove?"

"Absolutely," he nodded as his expression shifted back to his smirk. He raised his right hand beside his head "I promise that you won't have any trouble from me."

"You're damn right we won't." Coco muttered before tossing him back and nodding behind her "Better get to cleaning that locker before someone else spots it."

"Yes," Dove nodded as he stood and pressed his hands to his hips "Wouldn't want that to happen."

"But what about Russel?" Sky asked

"I'm sure you can lug it on your own." Dove said before placing a hand on his own chest "If I don't get this done, Cardin will have far more than a late package to be angry about."

With that he walked by a still irate Coco, who yelled after him "And if it isn't spotless the next time we need to pick out our weapons, I'm sure Glynda'd be happy to roast you over a spit!"

"I'll keep that in mind~!" Dove waved back at them.

Sky started cursing under his breath as Dove walked off, "Shit man." he cautiously looked to both Coco and Velvet before turning and jogging the other direction.

Only when both of them were out of sight did Coco's shoulders relax. She gave a groan before pulling off her beret and wiping at her forehead a bit. She took another moment before moving to put her sunglasses back on when a sound drew her attention away.

"W-Wow."

She looked back to Velvet, who shook a little under her gaze. Face-flushed red, Velvet shivered a bit before repeating, "Wow Coco, I... I've never seen you so..."

She didn't know how to describe it, but seeing Coco actually lose her cool like that wasn't something she was used to. Even under the most stressful situations, Coco always seemed ready for anything the world could throw at her. But seeing that veneer of chill responses devolve into blatant fury somehow seemed... even more cool?

Velvet had no idea what it was. Coco had stood up for her many times before, but never with such outright animosity.

Coco sighed as she turned to face her girlfriend "Vel, sorry for hushin' you like that but-"

Velvet lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Coco before she could finish. A few moments of confusion later, Coco just shrugged and reciprocated by doing the same, "Okay... okay we're doing this now. Nice."

"Sorry..." Velvet pulled away a bit and failed to meet her gaze for a moment "You were just... really, really cool and..."

She trailed off for a moment, found herself stuck staring at Coco as she tried finishing, "And..."

Coco gave a curious look around before raising an eyebrow, "Velvet?"

That snapped Velvet out her dazed expression, only then did she realize she'd leaned in whilst trying to speak. Realizing what she almost did, Velvet froze under Coco's gaze.

But Coco merely gave another shrug before finally pulling away and walking past Velvet towards the stairs, "So the exchange rate around here is helping to hugs." she commented before pausing on the first step and glancing back to her girlfriend while sliding her shades back on "I wonder how much credit I've got built up?"

"Uh... lots!" Velvet blurted out before swallowing and trying again "I mean, c-calculated at least."

Coco snickered.

**.{{{{{+-+}}}}}. **

Dove approached Coco's locker with a critical look, eyes immediately going to something that was stuck in the side. Reaching for it, he pulled a torn off book cover which had been defaced thoroughly. It wasn't from a book of much importance, at least not to most, but it had been the favorite read of a particular rabbit-faunus. Almost anyone who knew her personally probably noticed of the frequency with which she read this trashy romance novel, and had perhaps taken note of the fact that she'd stopped carrying it around a while ago.

Alas, the novel had been a casualty in the campaign of cruelty that Dove and his teammates had waged against the faunus, but even after said campaign ended she'd never once tried recovering it. Dove had been the one to snatch it during one of their sessions, as it had truthfully been one of a series he'd read once. After having a good laugh at the ridiculous myriad of plot conveniences and impossibly campy characters, he'd forgotten about the novel for a while, until now.

Everything had started off according to plan, but in hindsight he figured that it's success was indicative of something coming out of left field. He managed to slip a note into Coco's seat in one of her classes claiming to wish to return something to Velvet that he'd stolen before, writing about how guilty he was to still have it even though he was fairly certain she wouldn't buy it. She was supposed to come to the locker room, find the cover of Velvet's once prized book savaged and ruined, then track him down for some good old retribution. Of course the Faunus had to lay witness to his comeuppance, but keeping track of her on top of everything else would be impossible. That had been the greatest risk here, and Cardin needing Sky and him to play delivery men wasn't helping.

But then they ran into her en route to pick up Russel's delivery. Even better, she was willing to contest with him, albeit pathetically. The stage was set, characters in place, tensions high, and suddenly the faunus girl's hero was to stride in and save the day, scene, fade to black, the whole shebang.

But Coco arrived far more furious than he could've anticipated, and now he knew why.

He examined the cover in his hand, then Coco's locker. It was in exactly the same place he'd left it, she probably never even noticed it. Not that he blamed her.

With a smirk, Dove turned his attention to Velvet's locker.

Red shades of burning spite painted a portrait of absolute revulsion across the Faunus's locker. Dove was actually impressed, given the space offered and the estimated size of whatever they'd used to write, there were dozens upon dozens of enraged scribbles declaring Velvet everything from a murderous terrorist to a conniving slut. Of course, these near maddened ravings couldn't hold a candle to the expertly crafted insults Dove knew he could develop with the material offered, but he will allow the culprit their moment.

Reaching out, he wiped at one of the markings and was relieved to find it smudging away. That meant he would need no more than water and a _lot_ of towels to clean it.

"Hn?" he leaned down and sniffed at the red which stuck to his finger "Sweet?"

He leaned down and read through the various writings again, smile widening as he did so, "Cowardly bitch... back to the streets you whore... lying little waste-basket." if he didn't need this cleaned before anyone else came for their weapons, perhaps he would've stayed and analyzed these writings more. As it were, he set about for the bathroom linked to the locker room.

As he collected as many moistened cloths as he could carry, Dove once more thought to just how good today had gone. The moment he came across Velvet he was sure his ploy would succeed, but this went beyond all expectation.

Honestly, he had expected to more slowly kick this production into third gear, but this...

...this was exactly what they all needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review or comment if you are so inclined to do. Things you enjoyed about it? Things you hated about it? Any ways you feel I could improve? Expectations for the next chapter? Follow or Favorite at your leisure and I will see you all in the next installment of Trying Chocolate.


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